Raydon
A masculine name derived from the English words "ray" and "don", possibly signifying a radiant or illustrious leader.
Name Census estimates that about 308 living Americans carry the first name Raydon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Raydon today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raydon births was 2018 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raydon. 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 Raydon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
308
~ 1 in 1,112,839 Americans
Peak year
2018
22 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,739
Tracked since 1971
Census
Raydon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 322 people with the first name Raydon, which placed it at #28,067 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
#28,067
National first-name rank
People counted
322
322 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raydon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raydon is White at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Raydon 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 Raydon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.2% · 139
- Black or African American18.9% · 61
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.1% · 39
- Two or more races7.8% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.0% · 16
Popularity
Raydon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raydon from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 152 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raydon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raydon 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 Raydon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raydons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Raydon
The name Raydon originates from the Old English language, with its roots dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the combination of two words: "raed," meaning counsel or advice, and "don," which signifies a hill or mound. This suggests that the name may have been associated with a place where important gatherings or councils were held, potentially on a hilltop or elevated location.
In the early medieval period, the name Raydon was prevalent in the regions of what is now known as southern England and parts of East Anglia. It was commonly used among the Anglo-Saxon communities, reflecting their cultural and linguistic heritage.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been documented in various historical records dating back to the 9th century CE. One of the earliest recorded instances is found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Raydon. One such figure was Raydon of Mercia (c. 865-927), a prominent nobleman and landowner who played a significant role in the defense of the Kingdom of Mercia against Viking invasions. Another was Raydon the Scribe (c. 1010-1078), a renowned calligrapher and illuminator of manuscripts in the early Norman period.
In the 13th century, Raydon de Montfort (c. 1220-1285) was a respected knight and military commander who fought alongside Simon de Montfort during the Second Barons' War against King Henry III. During the Renaissance period, Raydon Marlowe (1564-1593) was a celebrated English playwright and poet, best known for his works such as "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" and "The Jew of Malta."
Another notable figure was Raydon Cromwell (1599-1658), a prominent military leader and statesman who played a crucial role in the English Civil War and served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1653 until his death.
While the name Raydon has maintained a presence throughout history, its popularity has ebbed and flowed over the centuries. It remains a unique and distinctive name with a rich historical lineage, reflecting the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Anglo-Saxon era.
People
Raydon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raydon 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
Raydon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raydon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 308 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raydon 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 1,112,839 US residents.
Is Raydon a common name?
We classify Raydon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 311 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raydon most popular?
The single biggest year for Raydon was 2018, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raydon is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raydon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 322 people with the name Raydon, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,067 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 Raydon 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 Raydon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raydon leans strongly male. 312 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 14 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Raydon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raydon is White at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Raydon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raydon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.2% (139 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 Raydon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raydon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raydon 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 Raydon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raydon 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 Raydon 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 Americans are named Raydon?
See how many Americans are named Raydon on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.