Rayette
A feminine French diminutive form of the name Ray, meaning "bright" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Rayette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rayette today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayette births was 1971 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayette. 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
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
1971
14 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1977 SSA rank
#9,327
Tracked since 1949
Census
Rayette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 176 people with the first name Rayette, which placed it at #41,537 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
#41,537
National first-name rank
People counted
176
176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayette is White at 58.5%. The next largest groups are Black (23.3%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Rayette 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 Rayette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.5% · 103
- Black or African American23.3% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.1% · 9
- Two or more races4.0% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 4
Popularity
Rayette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayette from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 59 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rayette 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 Rayette 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 Rayette
The given name Rayette originates from the French language, derived from the word "raye," which means "striped" or "streaked." This name likely emerged in the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance period in France, potentially as a descriptive term for someone with streaked or striped hair or clothing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rayette can be found in the historical records of the French city of Rouen, where a woman named Rayette de Montfort was mentioned in a legal document from the year 1487. This suggests that the name was in use among the French nobility during the late 15th century.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Rayette Lefebvre was a renowned seamstress and embroiderer who worked for the French royal court. Her intricate needlework and embroidery designs adorned the garments of King Henry II and his wife, Catherine de' Medici.
During the 17th century, a French poet and playwright named Rayette Duval gained recognition for her works, which often explored themes of love and societal issues. She was born in 1620 in Paris and is credited with several published plays and poetry collections.
In the 18th century, Rayette Delaunay, a French painter and portraitist, gained fame for her exquisite portraits of the aristocracy and wealthy merchants of Paris. She was born in 1745 and her works are now housed in various prestigious art museums across Europe.
In more recent history, Rayette Aubry was a influential French feminist and activist who fought for women's rights and gender equality in the early 20th century. Born in 1882, she was a prominent figure in the French suffragette movement and played a crucial role in securing voting rights for women in France.
While the name Rayette has its origins in France, it has since been adopted and used in various cultures and languages around the world, though its usage remains relatively uncommon. The name's connection to the concept of stripes or streaks gives it a distinctive and visually evocative quality, reflecting the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of the French language.
People
Rayette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayette 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
Rayette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayette 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Rayette a common name?
We classify Rayette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 137 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayette most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayette was 1971, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayette is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 176 people with the name Rayette, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,537 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 Rayette 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 Rayette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayette appears almost entirely female. Of the 176 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Rayette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayette is White at 58.5%. The next largest groups are Black (23.3%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Rayette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rayette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.5% (103 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 Rayette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayette 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 Rayette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayette 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 Rayette 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 called Rayette?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.