Raily
A unique invented name, not found in traditional name dictionaries.
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Raily. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Raily today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raily births was 2013 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raily. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Raily. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2013
7 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2013 SSA rank
#10,469
Tracked since 2009
Gender
Gender distribution for Raily
Raily is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 12 total registrations, 7 (58.3%) were male and 5 (41.7%) were female.
Raily as a male name
- Ranked #10,469 in 2013
- 7 male births in 2013
- Peak: 2013 (7 births)
Raily as a female name
- Ranked #19,533 in 2009
- 5 female births in 2009
- Peak: 2009 (5 births)
Popularity
Raily: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raily from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 7 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raily 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 Raily 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 Raily
The name Raily is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic languages, particularly in the Gaulish and Brittonic dialects spoken in parts of modern-day France, Britain, and Ireland. The name is derived from the Proto-Celtic root *rāto-, meaning "to travel" or "to journey." This root is also found in the Old Irish word ráith, meaning "path" or "road."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Raily can be found in the Gallo-Roman inscription from the 2nd century AD, which mentions a person named Railio. This suggests that the name was in use during the Roman occupation of Gaul and may have been adopted by Romanized Celts or those of mixed Celtic and Roman ancestry.
In medieval times, the name Raily appeared in various forms, such as Raelius, Raelio, and Railegh, in various charters and records from Britain and France. One notable bearer of the name was Raily de Giffard, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
During the Renaissance period, the name Raily gained popularity in certain regions of Europe, particularly in Italy and France. One notable Italian bearer of the name was Raily Orsi (1492-1564), a Renaissance humanist and scholar from Ancona, known for his translations of ancient Greek texts.
In the 17th century, the name Raily appeared in various literary works, including the plays of William Shakespeare. One of Shakespeare's minor characters in the play "King Henry VI, Part 2" is named Raily, though little is known about the significance of this name choice.
Other notable historical figures who bore the name Raily include:
1. Raily de Mornay (c. 1550-1623), a French Protestant nobleman and diplomat who served as ambassador to England during the reign of Elizabeth I.
2. Raily Mercier (1640-1701), a French Jesuit missionary who traveled to Canada and worked among the Huron and Iroquois tribes.
3. Raily Fitzherbert (1748-1826), an English Catholic nobleman and close friend of King George IV.
4. Raily Masson (1796-1865), a French explorer and naturalist who accompanied several expeditions to South America and the Pacific.
5. Raily Vaughan (1878-1944), a Welsh writer and poet known for his works in the English and Welsh languages.
While the name Raily has been relatively uncommon throughout history, it has maintained a presence in various cultures and regions, often associated with themes of travel, exploration, and crossing cultural boundaries.
People
Raily + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raily 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
Raily: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raily?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raily 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Raily a common name?
We classify Raily as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raily most popular?
The single biggest year for Raily was 2013, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raily 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 Raily in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raily a male name?
Yes, 58.3% of people registered as Raily 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 Raily still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raily 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 Raily 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 Americans are named Raily?
See how many Americans are named Raily on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.