Rainer
Derived from the Germanic name "Ragin-hari", meaning "counsel of warriors".
Name Census estimates that about 1,194 living Americans carry the first name Rainer. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Rainer today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rainer births was 2018 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rainer. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 287,064 Americans
Peak year
2018
53 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,615
Tracked since 1955
Gender
Gender distribution for Rainer
Rainer leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rainer as a male name
- Ranked #2,615 in 2024
- 51 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (53 births)
Rainer as a female name
- Ranked #14,723 in 2020
- 6 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2020 (6 births)
Popularity
Rainer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rainer from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 339 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rainer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rainer 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 Rainer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rainers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Rainer, while Michigan, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rainer
The given name Rainer originated from the Germanic language group. It is derived from the Old High German word "ragin," which means "counsel" or "advice." The name can also be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "raginō," meaning "decision" or "judgment."
In the early Middle Ages, the name Rainer was popular among the Germanic tribes, particularly in regions now known as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It was often associated with wisdom, authority, and leadership qualities. The name gained prominence during the Carolingian dynasty, which ruled over a vast empire in Western and Central Europe from the 8th to the 9th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rainer can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a famous Germanic heroic epic poem from around the 13th century. In the poem, Rainer is mentioned as a knight in the service of King Gunther.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Rainer. One of the most famous was Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), a renowned Austrian poet and novelist widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern literature. His works, such as the "Duino Elegies" and "The Sonnets to Orpheus," explored themes of existentialism, spirituality, and the human condition.
Another prominent figure was Rainer Hersch (1927-2020), a British composer and conductor of German descent. He was best known for his collaborations with notable choreographers and his contributions to the world of ballet music.
In the realm of science, Rainer Weiss (born 1932) is a notable figure. He is an American physicist and Nobel laureate who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017 for his pioneering work on the detection of gravitational waves.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) was a highly influential German filmmaker, actor, playwright, and director. He was a prolific artist who left a lasting impact on the New German Cinema movement with his avant-garde and socially critical works.
Lastly, Rainer Gross (born 1951) is a German author and journalist known for his novels, short stories, and essays, many of which explore themes of identity, memory, and contemporary German society.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rainer
People
Rainer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rainer 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
Rainer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rainer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rainer 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 287,064 US residents.
Is Rainer a common name?
We classify Rainer as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,241 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rainer most popular?
The single biggest year for Rainer was 2018, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rainer is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rainer a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Rainer 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.