Raistlin
A fictional name meaning "Soulless One" in the Dragonlance universe.
Name Census estimates that about 375 living Americans carry the first name Raistlin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Raistlin today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raistlin births was 2000 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raistlin. 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
375
~ 1 in 914,012 Americans
Peak year
2000
25 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,535
Tracked since 1991
Census
Raistlin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 343 people with the first name Raistlin, which placed it at #26,904 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
#26,904
National first-name rank
People counted
343
343 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raistlin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raistlin is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.8%) and Hispanic (10.2%). 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 Raistlin 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 Raistlin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 251
- Two or more races12.8% · 44
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 35
- Black or African American1.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Raistlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raistlin from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 171 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raistlin 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 Raistlin 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 Raistlin
The name Raistlin is a fictional name created by the author Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman for the character Raistlin Majere in the Dragonlance series of fantasy novels. It does not have a true origin or etymology from any existing language or culture.
The name first appeared in the 1984 novel "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" as the name of one of the main protagonists, a powerful wizard and former student of magic. Raistlin Majere is portrayed as a frail and sickly young man who achieves great power through the study of magic, but at a terrible price.
As a fictional name created for a specific character, there are no recorded examples of the name Raistlin being used prior to the publication of the Dragonlance novels. However, the character of Raistlin Majere has become iconic within the fantasy genre and has influenced many subsequent works of fiction.
While there are no famous historical figures named Raistlin, the character himself has become renowned within the realm of fantasy literature. Some noteworthy individuals who have portrayed or voiced the character of Raistlin Majere include:
1. Trammell Ray Isaacs, who provided the voice for Raistlin in the Dragonlance animated series in the 1980s.
2. Laurence Olivier, who voiced Raistlin in the audiobook adaptation of "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" in 1985.
3. Brent Spiner, known for his role as Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, who voiced Raistlin in the audiobook adaptation of "Dragons of Spring Dawning" in 2008.
4. Dominick Burgess, who portrayed Raistlin in the web series "Dragonlance Chronicles" in 2016.
5. Sam Riegel, a voice actor known for his work in various video games and animated series, who has portrayed Raistlin in several Dragonlance productions, including the "Dragons of Deceit" audiobook in 2021.
While the name Raistlin itself does not have a documented historical origin, the character of Raistlin Majere has become a significant figure within the fantasy genre, inspiring countless writers, artists, and fans alike since his introduction in the Dragonlance novels.
People
Raistlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raistlin 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
Raistlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raistlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 375 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raistlin 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 914,012 US residents.
Is Raistlin a common name?
We classify Raistlin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 381 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raistlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Raistlin was 2000, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raistlin is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raistlin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 343 people with the name Raistlin, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,904 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 Raistlin 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 Raistlin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raistlin leans strongly male. 323 people counted with this name were male (94.2%), compared with 20 female bearers (5.8%). 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 Raistlin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raistlin is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.8%) and Hispanic (10.2%). 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 Raistlin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raistlin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (251 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 Raistlin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raistlin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raistlin 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 Raistlin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raistlin 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 Raistlin 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 Raistlin as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.