Raiya
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "garden, oasis".
Name Census estimates that about 658 living Americans carry the first name Raiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raiya today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raiya births was 2023 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raiya. 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 Raiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
658
~ 1 in 520,903 Americans
Peak year
2023
77 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,786
Tracked since 1998
Census
Raiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 371 people with the first name Raiya, which placed it at #25,534 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
#25,534
National first-name rank
People counted
371
371 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raiya is White at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.3%). 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 Raiya 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 Raiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.7% · 125
- Black or African American25.6% · 95
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.3% · 64
- Two or more races12.7% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Raiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raiya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 298 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
Raiya 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 Raiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Raiya, while Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raiya
The name Raiya is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. The name is derived from the Arabic word "raya," which means "banner" or "flag." It is also possible that the name has connections to the Arabic word "rayah," meaning "meadow" or "garden."
In the Islamic tradition, the word "raya" is associated with the concept of a guiding standard or principle, much like a banner that leads and guides individuals or groups. This symbolic meaning may have contributed to the adoption of the name Raiya as a given name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Raiya can be traced back to the Middle Ages, particularly in regions where Arabic culture and language had significant influence, such as the Middle East and parts of North Africa.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Raiya was Raiya bint Isma'il al-Qurashi, a prominent Arab poet who lived in the 7th century CE. She was renowned for her eloquence and mastery of the Arabic language, and her poetry is still studied and appreciated today.
Another historical figure bearing the name Raiya was Raiya al-Andalusiya, a renowned scholar and philosopher from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) during the 11th century CE. She made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy.
In the 13th century, Raiya al-Dimashqiya was a celebrated calligrapher and illuminator from Damascus, whose works adorned many important manuscripts and religious texts of her time.
Raiya al-Baghdadiya, born in the early 15th century, was a noted physician and herbalist from Baghdad. She is credited with developing numerous remedies and treatments using natural herbs and plants.
Raiya al-Malikiya, born in the late 16th century, was a prominent architect and engineer who played a significant role in the construction of several iconic mosques and palaces in the Ottoman Empire.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Raiya. While the name may have evolved and taken on different cultural and linguistic influences over time, its origins can be traced back to the rich Arabic heritage and the symbolic meaning associated with the word "raya."
People
Raiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raiya 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
Raiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 658 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raiya 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 520,903 US residents.
Is Raiya a common name?
We classify Raiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 663 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Raiya was 2023, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raiya is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 371 people with the name Raiya, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,534 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 Raiya 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 Raiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raiya leans strongly female. 363 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 9 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Raiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raiya is White at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.3%). 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 Raiya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.7% (125 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 Raiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raiya 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 Raiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raiya 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 Raiya 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 named Raiya?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.