Raelyn
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from "rae" meaning ray.
Name Census estimates that about 15,057 living Americans carry the first name Raelyn. It sits at #422 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Raelyn today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raelyn births was 2017 (1,034 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raelyn. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Raelyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Raelyn is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 90 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Raelyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,764 Americans
Peak year
2017
1,034 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#422
Tracked since 1949
Census
Raelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,801 people with the first name Raelyn, which placed it at #2,497 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,497
National first-name rank
People counted
9.8K
9,801 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raelyn is White at 70.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Raelyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Raelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.0% · 6,860
- Black or African American11.0% · 1,077
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 878
- Two or more races7.3% · 712
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 176
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 98
Gender
Gender distribution for Raelyn
Out of the 15,256 babies given the name Raelyn since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Raelyn as a male name
- Ranked #8,151 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (11 births)
Raelyn as a female name
- Ranked #422 in 2024
- 733 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (1,029 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,791 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Raelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raelyn from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 8,056 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raelyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raelyn 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 Raelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Texas, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Raelyn, while Hawaii, North Dakota, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 286 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raelyn
The name Raelyn is a modern English name that emerged in the late 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Rachel and Lynn, both of which have roots in various languages and cultures.
Rachel is a Hebrew name derived from the Biblical figure Rachel, the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin in the Book of Genesis. The name Rachel is thought to come from the Hebrew word "ra'ah," meaning "ewe" or "female sheep." It has been a popular name among Jewish communities for centuries.
Lynn, on the other hand, is a gender-neutral name of English origin. It is derived from the Welsh name "Llyn," which means "lake" or "pool." The name Lynn has been used as a given name since the Middle Ages, particularly in English-speaking countries.
The first recorded use of the name Raelyn is believed to be in the late 1960s or early 1970s, as it gained popularity as a unique and creative combination of two established names. However, there are no known historical references or famous individuals from ancient times who bore this name.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Raelyn was Raelyn Gallant, a Canadian author born in 1970. She has written several novels and short stories, many of which explore themes of identity and personal growth.
Another individual named Raelyn was Raelyn Lile, an American actress born in 1975. She appeared in various television shows and films throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The X-Files."
In the world of sports, Raelyn Prince was a Canadian soccer player who represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She played as a midfielder for various professional teams, including the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Chicago Red Stars.
Raelyn Jacobson, born in 1982, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released several albums and has toured extensively, performing her blend of folk, pop, and Americana music.
Lastly, Raelyn Campbell is a New Zealand-born artist and illustrator known for her vibrant and whimsical artworks. She has exhibited her work in galleries around the world and has published several books featuring her illustrations.
While the name Raelyn is a modern creation, it carries the influences of various cultural and linguistic traditions, reflecting the diversity and creativity of modern naming practices.
People
Raelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raelyn 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
Raelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,057 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raelyn 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 22,764 US residents.
Is Raelyn a common name?
We classify Raelyn as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,256 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Raelyn was 2017, when 1,034 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raelyn is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,801 people with the name Raelyn, or 3.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,497 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Raelyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Raelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,791 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Raelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raelyn is White at 70.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Raelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.0% (6,860 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Raelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raelyn a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Raelyn 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.
Is Raelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raelyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Raelyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Raelyn?
You can see how many Americans are named Raelyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.