Raisa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "bountiful" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 1,254 living Americans carry the first name Raisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raisa today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raisa births was 1988 (94 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raisa. 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 Raisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 273,329 Americans
Peak year
1988
94 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,847
Tracked since 1962
Census
Raisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,717 people with the first name Raisa, which placed it at #3,585 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
#3,585
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,717 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raisa is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.1%). 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 Raisa 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 Raisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.4% · 3,627
- Hispanic or Latino21.3% · 1,218
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.1% · 577
- Black or African American3.6% · 205
- Two or more races1.4% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 11
Popularity
Raisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raisa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 374 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Raisa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raisa 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 Raisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Raisa, while Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 61 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raisa
The name Raisa has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "ra'isat," which means "leader" or "chief." The name is believed to have been in use since the early Islamic era, around the 7th century CE.
Raisa was a relatively uncommon name in the early centuries of Islam, but it gained popularity in the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the 9th century Arabic scholar, Ibn Qutaybah, who mentioned a woman named Raisa in his work on Arabic grammar.
The name Raisa is not explicitly mentioned in the Quran or other Islamic scriptures, but its meaning of "leader" or "chief" aligns with the values and principles of Islamic leadership. There are references to women in positions of authority and influence in early Islamic history, which may have contributed to the use of this name.
One of the most notable historical figures named Raisa was Raisa Andreyevna Gorbacheva (1932-1999), the wife of the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. She played a prominent role in promoting social and humanitarian causes during her husband's tenure as the leader of the Soviet Union.
Another famous bearer of the name was Raisa Smetanina (1928-2022), a Soviet and Russian actress who had a long and successful career in theatre, film, and television. She was a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious People's Artist of the USSR award.
In the world of literature, Raisa Vasilyevna Nemchinova (1899-1972) was a Russian and Soviet writer and literary critic. She is best known for her works on the lives and works of Russian writers, including Fyodor Dostoevsky and Ivan Turgenev.
Another notable figure was Raisa Svirskaya (1927-2008), a Soviet and Russian actress who appeared in numerous films and stage productions during her career. She was particularly acclaimed for her portrayal of strong and resilient women characters.
Raisa Makkonen (1954-2020) was a Finnish artist and ceramic sculptor who gained international recognition for her unique and innovative ceramics. Her works were exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and she received several prestigious awards and honors during her lifetime.
People
Raisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raisa 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
Raisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raisa 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 273,329 US residents.
Is Raisa a common name?
We classify Raisa as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,291 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Raisa was 1988, when 94 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raisa is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,717 people with the name Raisa, or 1.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,585 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 Raisa 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 Raisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,712 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Raisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raisa is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.1%). 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 Raisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.4% (3,627 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 Raisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raisa 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 Raisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raisa 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 Raisa 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 are called Raisa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.