Raven
A feminine name of English origin alluding to the bird of the same name.
Name Census estimates that about 46,063 living Americans carry the first name Raven. It sits at #388 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (93.1% of registrations). The average person named Raven today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raven births was 1993 (2,394 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raven. 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 Raven with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
46K
~ 1 in 7,441 Americans
Peak year
1993
2,394 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#388
Tracked since 1921
Census
Raven in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 37,280 people with the first name Raven, which placed it at #1,108 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
#1,108
National first-name rank
People counted
37K
37,280 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
12.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raven
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raven is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Raven 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 Raven at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.2% · 14,983
- White37.9% · 14,134
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 3,859
- Two or more races8.2% · 3,049
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 743
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 512
Gender
Gender distribution for Raven
Raven leans heavily female at 93.1% of total registrations, but 3,290 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Raven as a male name
- Ranked #2,815 in 2024
- 46 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (188 births)
Raven as a female name
- Ranked #388 in 2024
- 813 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (2,285 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raven leans strongly female. 34,596 people counted with this name were female (92.8%), compared with 2,678 male bearers (7.2%).
Popularity
Raven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raven from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 19,630 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
Raven 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 Raven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ravens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Raven, while Rhode Island, Wyoming, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 903 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raven
The given name Raven has its origins rooted in Old English, derived from the word "ræfn," which directly translates to the black feathered bird, the raven. This name's history can be traced back to the 5th century AD when the Anglo-Saxons inhabited parts of what is now known as England.
The raven held significant symbolic meaning in various ancient cultures, often associated with wisdom, prophecy, and the supernatural. In Norse mythology, the raven was sacred to Odin, the god of wisdom and war, and was considered a messenger between the realms of the living and the dead.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Raven can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of events in England from the 9th century. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Ræfn" and "Ræfne," indicating its widespread use during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Raven. One of the most famous was Raven the Black, also known as Raven of Mannheim (c. 1455 - c. 1522), a renowned German soldier and mercenary captain who fought in various wars and conflicts during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Another historical figure was Raven Hart (1876 - 1949), a British author, and journalist who wrote extensively about the Middle East and was known for his works on Arabic culture and language.
In literature, the name Raven gained prominence through the works of American writer Edgar Allan Poe, particularly his famous poem "The Raven" published in 1845. This iconic work helped to cement the association between the name and the mystical, dark, and macabre.
Other notable individuals with the name Raven include Raven Wilkinson (1935 - 2018), an American ballet dancer who was one of the first African American women to dance with a major classical ballet company, and Raven-Symoné (born 1985), an American actress, singer, and television personality best known for her roles in the Disney Channel series "That's So Raven" and "Raven's Home."
The name Raven has also been used in various works of fiction, such as the character Raven from the popular Teen Titans animated series, further solidifying its association with mystery, intelligence, and a certain darkly alluring quality.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Raven
People
Raven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raven 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
Raven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 46,063 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raven 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 7,441 US residents.
Is Raven a common name?
We classify Raven as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47,425 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raven most popular?
The single biggest year for Raven was 1993, when 2,394 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raven is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raven in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 37,280 people with the name Raven, or 12.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,108 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 Raven 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 Raven?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raven leans strongly female. 34,596 people counted with this name were female (92.8%), compared with 2,678 male bearers (7.2%). 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 Raven?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raven is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Raven most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Raven in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.2% (14,983 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 Raven in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raven a female name?
Yes, 93.1% of people registered as Raven 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 Raven still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raven 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 Raven 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 Raven?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.