Raiah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "fragrant orchid".
Name Census estimates that about 65 living Americans carry the first name Raiah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raiah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raiah births was 2007 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raiah. 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 Raiah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Raiah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
65
~ 1 in 5,273,144 Americans
Peak year
2007
9 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,953
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Raiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raiah 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 25 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raiah 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 Raiah 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 Raiah
The name Raiah is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "ra'a," which means "to see" or "to observe." It is a name that has been used for centuries in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Raiah can be found in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam. In the Quran, the word "ra'a" is used to describe the act of seeing or witnessing, and it is likely that the name Raiah was derived from this root word.
In the 8th century, the name Raiah was associated with a famous female poet and scholar from Basra, Iraq, known as Raiah bint al-Udri. She was renowned for her poetry and her contributions to the field of Arabic literature.
Another notable figure who bore the name Raiah was a 12th-century Sufi mystic and philosopher from Persia, known as Raiah al-Din Abul-Fadl. He was known for his teachings on the unity of existence and his influence on the development of Sufism.
In the 13th century, the name Raiah was also associated with a prominent Islamic scholar and judge from Egypt, known as Raiah al-Din al-Qazwini. He was renowned for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the field of Islamic law.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Raiah was often given to girls born into noble or influential families. One such example is Raiah Sultan, who was the daughter of Sultan Murad III and lived in the 16th century.
Over the centuries, the name Raiah has continued to be used in various parts of the Arab world and has been associated with a range of individuals, from poets and scholars to political figures and nobility. Its connection to the concept of sight and observation has likely contributed to its enduring popularity.
People
Raiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raiah 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
Raiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raiah 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 5,273,144 US residents.
Is Raiah a common name?
We classify Raiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Raiah was 2007, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raiah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Raiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raiah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raiah 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 Raiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raiah 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 Raiah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Raiah?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Raiah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.