Rakayla
A feminine name possibly derived from the Native American Sioux language.
Name Census estimates that about 237 living Americans carry the first name Rakayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rakayla today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rakayla births was 2005 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rakayla. 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
237
~ 1 in 1,446,221 Americans
Peak year
2005
21 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2015 SSA rank
#11,631
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Rakayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rakayla from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 129 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Rakayla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rakayla 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 Rakayla 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 Rakayla
The name Rakayla is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from a combination of existing names and words. It is not associated with any particular language, culture, or historical period.
Despite its lack of deep historical roots, the name Rakayla has gained some popularity in recent years, especially in certain regions. One possible origin could be a blend of the names Rachel and Kayla, which are both of Hebrew origin.
Another theory suggests that Rakayla may be a combination of the Sanskrit word "raka," meaning "full moon," and the name Kayla, which is a variation of the Hebrew name Kaiah, meaning "to gather" or "to collect." This would give the name Rakayla a poetic meaning of "gathering of the full moon."
In the absence of ancient texts or historical records mentioning the name Rakayla, it is difficult to pinpoint any specific historical references or famous individuals bearing this name from earlier periods.
However, some notable modern individuals with the first name Rakayla include:
1. Rakayla Hodges, an American basketball player who played for the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
2. Rakayla Berry, an American track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon.
3. Rakayla Carr, an American musician and singer-songwriter known for her work in the Christian music genre.
4. Rakayla Sheffield, an American entrepreneur and founder of a successful jewelry company.
5. Rakayla Thompson, an American academic and professor of sociology at a prominent university.
While the name Rakayla may lack a deep historical lineage, its increasing popularity in recent times suggests that it resonates with modern parents seeking unique and meaningful names for their children.
People
Rakayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rakayla 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
Rakayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rakayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 237 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rakayla 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 1,446,221 US residents.
Is Rakayla a common name?
We classify Rakayla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 240 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rakayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Rakayla was 2005, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rakayla is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rakayla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rakayla 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.