Rage
Derived from an Old Norse word signifying violent and uncontrolled anger.
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the first name Rage. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rage today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rage births was 2021 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rage. 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.
People living today
122
~ 1 in 2,809,462 Americans
Peak year
2021
10 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,532
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Rage: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rage 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 53 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rage remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rage 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 Rage during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rage
The name Rage is derived from the Old English word "rage," which means "madness," "fury," or "violent anger." It has its roots in the Proto-Germanic word "regan," meaning "to rage" or "to be furious." The name is believed to have originated in the medieval period, around the 11th or 12th century, in England and other parts of the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rage can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals that chronicled the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The Chronicle mentions a warrior named Rage who fought in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 against the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror.
In the 13th century, the name Rage appears in the Domesday Book, a great survey of land and property ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book lists a landowner named Rage who held lands in the county of Berkshire.
During the Renaissance period, the name Rage was associated with literary and artistic works that explored themes of passion, anger, and human emotions. One notable example is the character Rage in Edmund Spenser's epic poem "The Faerie Queene," published in 1590, which personified the concept of rage and fury.
In the 17th century, a famous English playwright named Rage Dyer (1586-1647) gained recognition for his satirical plays that often criticized the social and political issues of his time. His most well-known work is "The Widow's Tears," a tragicomedy published in 1623.
Another notable figure with the name Rage was Rage Merton (1688-1758), an English philosopher and theologian who wrote extensively on the nature of human emotions and the role of reason in controlling them. His book "The Passions of the Mind" (1742) explored the concept of rage and its impact on human behavior.
Throughout history, the name Rage has been associated with themes of passion, intensity, and fierce emotions, reflecting its origins in the Old English word for "madness" and "fury." While not a common name today, it has left a lasting impact in literature, philosophy, and the exploration of human emotions.
People
Rage + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rage 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
Rage: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rage?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 122 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rage 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 2,809,462 US residents.
Is Rage a common name?
We classify Rage as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rage most popular?
The single biggest year for Rage was 2021, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rage is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rage a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rage in the SSA data are male. 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.