Rayshell
A feminine name of invented origin, a blend of Rachel and Michelle.
Name Census estimates that about 182 living Americans carry the first name Rayshell. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rayshell today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayshell births was 1986 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayshell. 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
182
~ 1 in 1,883,266 Americans
Peak year
1986
10 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,091
Tracked since 1961
Census
Rayshell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 212 people with the first name Rayshell, which placed it at #37,053 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
#37,053
National first-name rank
People counted
212
212 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayshell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayshell is Black at 69.8%. The next largest groups are White (14.2%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Rayshell 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 Rayshell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.8% · 148
- White14.2% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 19
- Two or more races6.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Rayshell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayshell from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 55 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
Rayshell 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 Rayshell 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 Rayshell
The name Rayshell is a relatively modern invention, having no clear origins in any particular language or culture. It appears to be a creative combination of the English names "Ray" and "Shell," formed in the late 20th century, likely as a unique and distinctive feminine name.
There are no known historical references or ancient texts mentioning this name. It does not appear to have any direct linguistic roots or derivations from older words or spellings. The name's creation seems to be a product of contemporary naming trends, where new and unconventional names are formed by blending existing names or words.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Rayshell are relatively recent, with the first instances appearing in various birth records and documents from the latter half of the 20th century. However, due to its relative novelty, there are no famous historical figures known to have borne this name.
Despite its modern origins, a few notable individuals have carried the name Rayshell in recent times:
1. Rayshell Leffall, an American singer and songwriter known for her work in the gospel and contemporary Christian music genres.
2. Rayshell Clapper, an American reality television personality who appeared on the show "Sister Wives" in the 2010s.
3. Rayshell Petersen, a South African professional boxer who competed in the lightweight division in the early 2000s.
4. Rayshell Buchanan, an American author and poet, known for her works exploring themes of identity and self-expression.
5. Rayshell Goins, an American entrepreneur and business owner, who founded a successful line of natural hair care products in the late 2000s.
While the name Rayshell is a relatively new creation, it has gained some popularity and recognition in recent decades, particularly in certain regions and communities. However, its historical roots and widespread usage remain limited compared to more traditional names with deeper linguistic and cultural origins.
People
Rayshell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayshell 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
Rayshell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayshell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 182 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayshell 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 1,883,266 US residents.
Is Rayshell a common name?
We classify Rayshell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 193 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayshell most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayshell was 1986, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayshell is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayshell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 212 people with the name Rayshell, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,053 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 Rayshell 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 Rayshell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayshell leans strongly female. 205 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 6 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Rayshell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayshell is Black at 69.8%. The next largest groups are White (14.2%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Rayshell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rayshell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.8% (148 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 Rayshell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayshell a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayshell 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 Rayshell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayshell 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 Rayshell 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 Rayshell?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.