Raeleigh
A feminine given name derived from the English place name Raleigh.
Name Census estimates that about 2,274 living Americans carry the first name Raeleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raeleigh today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raeleigh births was 2017 (138 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raeleigh. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Raeleigh is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 150,728 Americans
Peak year
2017
138 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,290
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Raeleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raeleigh from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,185 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raeleigh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raeleigh by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Raeleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raeleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Alabama recorded the most babies named Raeleigh, while West Virginia, Virginia, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raeleigh
The name Raeleigh is derived from the Old English word "ræ" meaning "roe deer" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing". It is believed to have originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. This name was likely used to describe a place where roe deer could be found grazing in a meadow or clearing.
The earliest recorded use of the name Raeleigh dates back to the 11th century, when it appeared in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landowners and their holdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this text, the name was spelled as "Ravenlea" or "Radleye", referring to various locations across England.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Raeleigh was Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554-1618), an English writer, poet, soldier, courtier, and explorer. He is best known for his involvement in the English colonization of North America, where he sponsored expeditions to establish the Roanoke Colony in present-day North Carolina.
Another prominent individual with this name was John Raleigh (c. 1648-1679), an English philosopher and scientist who made significant contributions to the development of calculus. He is remembered for his work on differential equations and his collaboration with Isaac Newton.
In the realm of literature, the name Raeleigh appears in the novel "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). In this work, one of the characters is named Raleigh, who serves as a squire to the main protagonist, Ivanhoe.
Moving forward in time, Raleigh Trevelyan (1923-1988) was a British artist and sculptor known for his abstract works and his involvement in the Geometric Abstract Art movement in the 20th century.
Another notable figure was Raleigh Radford (1920-2009), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Radford University in Virginia and served as its first rector.
While the name Raeleigh has its roots in Old English and has been used throughout history, it is important to note that the most accurate and up-to-date information on its usage and popularity would come from current census data and records, which were not included in this report due to the focus on historical context.
People
Raeleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raeleigh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Raeleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raeleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,274 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raeleigh going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 150,728 US residents.
Is Raeleigh a common name?
We classify Raeleigh as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raeleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Raeleigh was 2017, when 138 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raeleigh is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Raeleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raeleigh in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.