Rayneisha
A feminine name of African American origin meaning "rain goddess".
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the first name Rayneisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rayneisha today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayneisha births was 1995 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayneisha. 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
135
~ 1 in 2,538,921 Americans
Peak year
1995
12 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2007 SSA rank
#17,137
Tracked since 1987
Census
Rayneisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 98 people with the first name Rayneisha, which placed it at #53,484 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
#53,484
National first-name rank
People counted
98
98 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
99.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayneisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayneisha is Black at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American99.0% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 1
Popularity
Rayneisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayneisha from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 79 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Rayneisha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha
The name Rayneisha is a modern invention that blends elements from different cultures and languages. It appears to be a creative fusion of the English name Rayne, which is a variant of the name Rain or Raina, with the West African name Keisha.
Rayne or Rain is derived from the Old English word "renn" or "regen," meaning "rain" or "shower." This name has been used in English-speaking cultures for centuries, often associated with nature and the elements. Rayne can also be traced back to the Old French name "Reine," meaning "queen."
Keisha, on the other hand, is a popular name of West African origin, particularly in Ghana and Nigeria. It is believed to be a variation of the Akan name Akeisha or Akyesha, which means "born on Sunday" or "first-born daughter."
The combination of these two elements, Rayne and Keisha, seems to be a relatively modern invention, likely created in the latter half of the 20th century as a unique and multicultural name. There are no recorded instances of this particular spelling or combination in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records.
While the name Rayneisha itself does not have a long historical legacy, it is worth mentioning a few notable individuals who have carried this name:
1. Rayneisha Kickham, an American educator and advocate for children's literacy, born in 1982.
2. Rayneisha Williams, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
3. Rayneisha Greer, an American singer and songwriter known for her work in the R&B and gospel genres.
4. Rayneisha Browne, a British fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded the clothing line "Rayneisha's Runway" in 2015.
5. Rayneisha Moore, an American author and motivational speaker known for her work on empowering young women.
Despite its relatively recent origins, the name Rayneisha has gained popularity and recognition in various parts of the world, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom, reflecting the diversity and creativity of modern naming practices.
People
Rayneisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayneisha 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
Rayneisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayneisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 135 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayneisha 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 2,538,921 US residents.
Is Rayneisha a common name?
We classify Rayneisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 139 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayneisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayneisha was 1995, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayneisha is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayneisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 98 people with the name Rayneisha, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,484 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 Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayneisha leans strongly female. 97 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 1 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Rayneisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayneisha is Black at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Rayneisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rayneisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.0% (97 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 Rayneisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayneisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha 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 Rayneisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.