Raynell
Derived from the Old English words "raen" and "el", meaning "advice" and "protector".
Name Census estimates that about 953 living Americans carry the first name Raynell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 62.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Raynell today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raynell births was 1981 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raynell. 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.
Key insights
- • Raynell was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Raynell sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
953
~ 1 in 359,658 Americans
Peak year
1981
30 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2018 SSA rank
#9,477
Tracked since 1925
Gender
Gender distribution for Raynell
Raynell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,154 total registrations, 438 (38.0%) were male and 716 (62.0%) were female.
Raynell as a male name
- Ranked #9,477 in 2018
- 8 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1976 (18 births)
Raynell as a female name
- Ranked #14,780 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1956 (19 births)
Popularity
Raynell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raynell from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 222 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raynell 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 Raynell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raynells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Louisiana, Alabama, California recorded the most babies named Raynell, while Texas, California, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raynell
The name Raynell is a modern variation of the French name Renelle, which itself is a diminutive form of the name Rene. Rene has its origins in the Old German name Rainier, which means "counsel" and "decision." The name Rainier was derived from the Germanic elements "ragin," meaning "counsel" or "decision," and "hari," meaning "army."
Raynell can be traced back to the 12th century, where it was used as a surname in France. The name gained popularity as a given name in the 19th century, particularly in the United States. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Raynell as a given name was in 1849, when Raynell Jennings was born in Tennessee.
In the 16th century, Raynell Grenville was a prominent English soldier and politician who served as a Member of Parliament and fought in the Spanish Armada. He lived from 1545 to 1634.
Raynell Lanerie was an American jockey who rode in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in the 1990s. He was born in 1964 and had a successful career in horse racing.
In the literary world, Raynell Chesser was an American author and journalist who wrote several historical novels and non-fiction books about the American West. She lived from 1923 to 2008.
Raynell Cooper was an American blues singer and guitarist who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in 1909 and was known for her powerful voice and guitar playing style.
Raynell Andreychuk was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as a Senator from 1993 to 2013. She was born in 1944 and was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Senate of Canada.
People
Raynell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raynell 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
Raynell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raynell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 953 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raynell 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 359,658 US residents.
Is Raynell a common name?
We classify Raynell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,154 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raynell most popular?
The single biggest year for Raynell was 1981, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raynell is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Raynell a female name?
Yes, 62.0% of people registered as Raynell 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.
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.