Ranier
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "army counselor".
Name Census estimates that about 191 living Americans carry the first name Ranier. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ranier today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ranier births was 1989 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ranier. 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
191
~ 1 in 1,794,525 Americans
Peak year
1989
14 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2003 SSA rank
#12,325
Tracked since 1970
Census
Ranier in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 333 people with the first name Ranier, which placed it at #27,468 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
#27,468
National first-name rank
People counted
333
333 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
31.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ranier
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranier is Asian/Pacific Islander at 31.2%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Hispanic (25.2%). 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 Ranier 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 Ranier at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander31.2% · 104
- Black or African American26.7% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino25.2% · 84
- White13.5% · 45
- Two or more races3.3% · 11
Popularity
Ranier: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ranier from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 85 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
Ranier 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 Ranier 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 Ranier
The name Ranier originates from the Germanic languages and has roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old German word "ragin," meaning "counsel" or "advice," and the suffix "-hari," which means "warrior." Together, the name Ranier translates to "wise warrior" or "counseling warrior."
The earliest recorded use of the name Ranier can be traced back to the 9th century, when it appeared in various medieval documents and records from present-day Germany and neighboring regions. It was a popular name among the nobility and ruling classes during that time, often bestowed upon sons born into powerful families.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Ranier was Ranier I, Count of Hainaut, who lived from 1005 to 1063. He was a prominent nobleman and military leader during the High Middle Ages, known for his role in the conflicts between the Holy Roman Empire and France.
Another important historical figure was Ranier of Pisa, a renowned architect and sculptor from the 12th century. He was responsible for designing and constructing several iconic buildings in Pisa, including the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, which was completed in 1372.
In the 16th century, Ranier Fiesco was a renowned Italian philosopher and theologian. He was born in 1515 and spent much of his life teaching at various universities across Europe, making significant contributions to the fields of metaphysics and natural philosophy.
During the Renaissance period, Ranier Calzabigi, born in 1714, was an Italian librettist and playwright. He is best known for his work on the opera "Orpheus and Eurydice," which was composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck and premiered in 1762.
In the 19th century, Ranier Maria Rilke, born in 1875, was a renowned Austrian poet and novelist. He is considered one of the most significant poets of the 20th century, and his works, such as the "Duino Elegies" and "The Sonnets to Orpheus," are widely studied and celebrated in the literary world.
People
Ranier + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ranier 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
Ranier: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ranier?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 191 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ranier 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 1,794,525 US residents.
Is Ranier a common name?
We classify Ranier as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ranier most popular?
The single biggest year for Ranier was 1989, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ranier is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ranier in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 333 people with the name Ranier, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,468 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 Ranier 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 Ranier?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ranier leans strongly male. 321 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 16 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Ranier?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranier is Asian/Pacific Islander at 31.2%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Hispanic (25.2%). 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 Ranier most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ranier in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.2% (104 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 Ranier in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ranier a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ranier 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 Ranier still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ranier 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 Ranier 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 Ranier?
Find out how many people have the name Ranier on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.