Ravenna
A feminine name derived from Ravenna, an Italian city name.
Name Census estimates that about 491 living Americans carry the first name Ravenna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ravenna today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ravenna births was 2020 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ravenna. 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 Ravenna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
491
~ 1 in 698,074 Americans
Peak year
2020
44 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,088
Tracked since 1932
Census
Ravenna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 429 people with the first name Ravenna, which placed it at #22,989 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
#22,989
National first-name rank
People counted
429
429 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ravenna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ravenna is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.7%) and Two or More Races (11.7%). 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 Ravenna 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 Ravenna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.3% · 280
- Hispanic or Latino11.7% · 50
- Two or more races11.7% · 50
- Black or African American7.9% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 7
Popularity
Ravenna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ravenna from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 238 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ravenna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ravenna 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 Ravenna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ravennas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ravenna
The name Ravenna has its origins in the Italian language and culture, deriving from the name of the city of Ravenna, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city's name is believed to stem from the Latin word "ravus," meaning "tawny" or "gray," possibly referring to the color of the Adriatic waters near the city.
Ravenna was an important city during the Roman Empire and later became the capital of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Its rich history and cultural significance may have contributed to the popularity of the name, which has been used throughout Italy and other parts of Europe for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ravenna can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who lived from 59 BC to 17 AD. He mentioned the city of Ravenna in his historical work, "Ab Urbe Condita," which chronicles the history of Rome from its founding to the reign of Augustus.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Ravenna. Among them is Ravenna Calhoun (1823-1909), an American educator and women's rights activist who founded the Calhoun Colored School in Alabama, one of the first schools for African American children in the state.
Another historical figure with the name Ravenna is Ravenna Taylor (1842-1923), an American writer and editor who co-founded the periodical "The Woman's World" and advocated for women's rights and education.
In the realm of art, Ravenna Fontana (1609-1678) was an Italian painter known for her portraits and religious works during the Baroque period. Her art can be found in various churches and galleries across Italy.
Ravenna Lanier (1859-1933) was an American poet and teacher who published several volumes of poetry and was involved in various literary societies and organizations in her home state of Georgia.
Lastly, Ravenna Baynon (1893-1988) was an American artist and illustrator known for her woodcuts and etchings, particularly those depicting scenes from rural life in the American South.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ravenna, reflecting its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods.
People
Ravenna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ravenna 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
Ravenna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ravenna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 491 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ravenna 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 698,074 US residents.
Is Ravenna a common name?
We classify Ravenna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 531 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ravenna most popular?
The single biggest year for Ravenna was 2020, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ravenna is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ravenna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 429 people with the name Ravenna, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,989 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 Ravenna 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 Ravenna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ravenna leans strongly female. 427 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Ravenna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ravenna is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.7%) and Two or More Races (11.7%). 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 Ravenna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ravenna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (280 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 Ravenna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ravenna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ravenna 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 Ravenna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ravenna 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 Ravenna 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 have the name Ravenna?
See how many people have the name Ravenna on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.