Rayo
A Spanish masculine given name meaning "ray of light" or "beam".
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Rayo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rayo today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayo births was 2017 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayo. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rayo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
2017
6 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,744
Tracked since 1923
Census
Rayo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Rayo, which placed it at #46,519 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
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
66.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayo is Hispanic at 66.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.7%) and Black (8.4%). 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 Rayo 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 Rayo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino66.4% · 95
- White21.7% · 31
- Black or African American8.4% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 4
- Two or more races0.7% · 1
Popularity
Rayo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayo from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 10 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
Rayo 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 Rayo 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 Rayo
The name Rayo is believed to have originated from the Spanish language, where it means "ray" or "beam of light." It is derived from the Latin word "radius," which also means "ray" or "beam." This name has its roots in ancient Roman culture and was likely first used during the time of the Roman Empire.
Rayo was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it did appear in some historical records and texts. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in a Roman manuscript from the 2nd century AD, which mentioned a man named Rayo who was a skilled archer.
During the Middle Ages, the name Rayo gained some popularity in Spain and other parts of the Iberian Peninsula, where it was associated with the concept of light and radiance. In the 12th century, there was a famous Spanish poet and philosopher named Rayo de Luna, who wrote extensively about the beauty of the natural world and the symbolism of light.
As time went on, the name Rayo continued to be used across Spain and its colonies, although it remained relatively rare. In the 16th century, there was a Spanish explorer named Rayo de Mendoza, who was part of the expedition that first mapped the coastline of California.
In the 19th century, one of the most notable figures with the name Rayo was Rayo Acosta, a Cuban revolutionary and writer who fought for the independence of Cuba from Spain. He was born in 1847 and died in 1901.
Another notable person with the name Rayo was Rayo Valverde, a Mexican artist and muralist who lived from 1900 to 1965. He was known for his vibrant and colorful murals that depicted scenes from Mexican culture and history.
Overall, while not a particularly common name, Rayo has a rich history that spans centuries and cultures, with its roots in ancient Roman and Spanish traditions. It has been borne by poets, explorers, revolutionaries, and artists throughout history, each adding their own unique chapter to the legacy of this name.
People
Rayo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayo 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
Rayo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayo 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Rayo a common name?
We classify Rayo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayo most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayo was 2017, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayo is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Rayo, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 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 Rayo 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 Rayo?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rayo on both sides of the split. Of the 132 people counted with this name, 63 were male (47.7%) and 69 were female (52.3%). 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 Rayo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayo is Hispanic at 66.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.7%) and Black (8.4%). 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 Rayo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rayo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.4% (95 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 Rayo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayo 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 Rayo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayo 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 Rayo 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 Rayo?
See how many people share the name Rayo on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.