Raylan
A masculine name of English origin, meaning "counsel garment" or "from the meadow town".
Name Census estimates that about 7,053 living Americans carry the first name Raylan. It is a predominantly male name (92.0% of registrations). The average person named Raylan today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raylan births was 2015 (687 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raylan. 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 Raylan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Raylan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.1K
~ 1 in 48,597 Americans
Peak year
2015
687 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#717
Tracked since 1975
Census
Raylan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,565 people with the first name Raylan, which placed it at #4,189 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
#4,189
National first-name rank
People counted
4.6K
4,565 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raylan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raylan is White at 78.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Black (6.9%). 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 Raylan 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 Raylan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.3% · 3,573
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 314
- Black or African American6.9% · 313
- Two or more races5.5% · 253
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 55
Gender
Gender distribution for Raylan
Raylan leans heavily male at 92.0% of total registrations, but 566 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Raylan as a male name
- Ranked #717 in 2024
- 368 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (630 births)
Raylan as a female name
- Ranked #4,435 in 2024
- 32 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (57 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raylan leans strongly male. 4,113 people counted with this name were male (90.1%), compared with 454 female bearers (9.9%).
Popularity
Raylan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raylan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,743 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raylan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raylan 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 Raylan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raylans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Raylan, while North Dakota, Massachusetts, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 152 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raylan
The name Raylan is a modern invention, likely originating in the United States in the late 20th century. It does not have any clear etymological roots or direct ties to a specific language or culture.
While the name Raylan itself is relatively new, it may have been influenced by or derived from other names and words. Some speculate that it could be a combination of the names Ray and Alan, or a variation of the name Rayland. Others suggest it may be related to the word "ray," which can refer to a beam of light or energy.
Despite its recent coinage, the name Raylan has gained some notable associations and references. One of the earliest and most prominent examples is the character Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshal featured in the Elmore Leonard novels "Pronto" and "Riding the Rap," as well as the TV series "Justified" which aired from 2010 to 2015. This character, played by Timothy Olyphant, helped popularize the name and introduce it to a wider audience.
Beyond the fictional character, there are a few real-life individuals who have borne the name Raylan throughout history. One example is Raylan Givens, a 19th-century American outlaw and gunfighter who lived in the late 1800s. While sharing a name with the fictional character, this historical figure predates the modern usage of the name.
Another notable Raylan is Raylan Albright, an American professional basketball player who played in the NBA from 2006 to 2011. Born in 1984, he spent time with teams like the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the world of music, there is Raylan Giese, a German singer-songwriter born in 1986. He has released several albums and singles and has gained popularity in the German pop and rock scene.
Additionally, Raylan Byers is an American football player born in 1996. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Oklahoma and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2022 NFL Draft.
While the name Raylan is relatively new and its origins are unclear, it has gained recognition and association with various individuals, particularly in the entertainment and sports industries. As a modern name, its popularity and usage continue to evolve, and it may develop deeper cultural significance over time.
People
Raylan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raylan 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
Raylan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raylan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,053 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raylan 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 48,597 US residents.
Is Raylan a common name?
We classify Raylan as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raylan most popular?
The single biggest year for Raylan was 2015, when 687 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raylan is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raylan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,565 people with the name Raylan, or 1.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,189 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 Raylan 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 Raylan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raylan leans strongly male. 4,113 people counted with this name were male (90.1%), compared with 454 female bearers (9.9%). 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 Raylan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raylan is White at 78.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Black (6.9%). 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 Raylan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raylan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.3% (3,573 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 Raylan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raylan a male name?
Yes, 92.0% of people registered as Raylan 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 Raylan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raylan 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 Raylan 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 Raylan?
You can see how many Americans are named Raylan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.