Raider
Meaning one who goes on a plundering raid or expedition.
Name Census estimates that about 570 living Americans carry the first name Raider. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Raider today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raider births was 2018 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raider. 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
570
~ 1 in 601,323 Americans
Peak year
2018
47 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,858
Tracked since 1995
Census
Raider in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 440 people with the first name Raider, which placed it at #22,573 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
#22,573
National first-name rank
People counted
440
440 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raider
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raider is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.8%) and Two or More Races (11.1%). 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 Raider 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 Raider at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.8% · 219
- Hispanic or Latino29.8% · 131
- Two or more races11.1% · 49
- Black or African American3.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 13
Popularity
Raider: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raider 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 309 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raider remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raider 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 Raider during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raiders live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Utah recorded the most babies named Raider, while Arizona, Utah, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raider
The name Raider is a relatively modern name with origins in the English language. It is derived from the word "raid," which comes from the Old English word "raid," meaning a military or predatory incursion. The name likely emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century, reflecting a romanticized fascination with adventure, daring, and conquest.
While the name Raider has no direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it carries connotations of bravery, boldness, and a spirit of adventure. The earliest recorded use of the name Raider is difficult to pinpoint, as it was not a common name until the 20th century.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Raider was Raider Wicker, an American baseball player born in 1901. He played in the Major Leagues as an outfielder for the Brooklyn Robins (later the Brooklyn Dodgers) from 1925 to 1929.
Another notable Raider was Raider Wilcox, an American football player born in 1915. He played as a halfback for the Detroit Lions and the Brooklyn Dodgers (football team) in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
In the realm of literature, Raider Crimson was the pen name of American novelist and short story writer Donald Westlake, born in 1933. He wrote several mystery and crime fiction novels under this pseudonym in the 1960s and 1970s.
Raider Ridley was a British actor born in 1935, best known for his roles in films such as "The Duellists" and "The Shooting Party." He had a successful career in British cinema and television spanning several decades.
Lastly, Raider Jaymes was an American writer and journalist born in 1947. He authored several non-fiction books on topics ranging from history to popular culture and was a regular contributor to various magazines and newspapers.
While the name Raider may not have a long and storied history, it has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, reflecting the adventurous and daring spirit the name evokes.
People
Raider + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raider 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
Raider: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raider?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 570 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raider 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 601,323 US residents.
Is Raider a common name?
We classify Raider as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 575 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raider most popular?
The single biggest year for Raider was 2018, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raider is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raider in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 440 people with the name Raider, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,573 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 Raider 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 Raider?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raider leans strongly male. 422 people counted with this name were male (94.8%), compared with 23 female bearers (5.2%). 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 Raider?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raider is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.8%) and Two or More Races (11.1%). 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 Raider most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raider in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (219 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 Raider in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raider a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raider 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.
Is Raider still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raider 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 Raider 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 have the name Raider?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Raider, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.