Raiven
A feminine name derived from the word "raven", possibly meaning "dark beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 418 living Americans carry the first name Raiven. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raiven today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raiven births was 1997 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raiven. 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
418
~ 1 in 819,986 Americans
Peak year
1997
25 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,836
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Raiven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raiven from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 157 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raiven 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 Raiven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raivens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Raiven
The name Raiven is a modern variant of the Old Norse name Regin, which means "divine counsel" or "wisdom." It is derived from the Proto-Germanic root "*raginaz," meaning "decision" or "advice." The name was particularly popular among the Vikings and other Norse peoples, who placed a high value on wisdom and counsel in their cultural traditions.
The earliest recorded use of the name Regin can be traced back to the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems from the 13th century. In the poem "Reginsmál," Regin is the name of a skilled dwarf smith who forges the legendary sword Gram. This association with skilled craftsmanship and legendary weaponry further reinforced the name's connotations of wisdom and power.
During the Viking Age (793-1066 CE), the name Regin was borne by several notable figures in Scandinavian history and mythology. One of the most famous was Regin Lødingsson, a Norwegian chieftain and warrior who lived in the late 10th century. He is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas as a brave and cunning leader who played a pivotal role in the battles between the Earls of Lade and the Norwegian kings.
Another historical figure with the name Regin was Regin Valgardsson, a powerful chieftain from Västergötland, Sweden, who lived in the 11th century. He is mentioned in the Gesta Danorum, a 12th-century work of Danish history, as a fierce warrior and skilled strategist who fought against the Danish king Canute IV.
In the realm of literature, the name Regin appears in the Völsunga saga, a 13th-century Icelandic prose work that retells the story of the legendary hero Sigurd and his slaying of the dragon Fafnir. In this saga, Regin is the dwarf smith who forges Sigurd's famous sword and guides him in his quest for vengeance and glory.
As the name evolved over time, it took on various spellings and forms, such as Raven, Ravin, and eventually Raiven. While the name has largely fallen out of use in its original Old Norse form, the modern variant Raiven has gained some popularity in recent years, particularly in English-speaking countries, as a unique and evocative name with a rich historical and mythological background.
People
Raiven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raiven 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
Raiven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raiven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raiven 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 819,986 US residents.
Is Raiven a common name?
We classify Raiven as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 426 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raiven most popular?
The single biggest year for Raiven was 1997, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raiven is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Raiven a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raiven 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.
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.