Rayyan
A masculine Arabic name meaning "to be satisfied" or "content".
Name Census estimates that about 3,212 living Americans carry the first name Rayyan. It is a predominantly male name (92.5% of registrations). The average person named Rayyan today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayyan births was 2015 (219 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayyan. 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 Rayyan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Rayyan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 106,711 Americans
Peak year
2015
219 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,320
Tracked since 1996
Census
Rayyan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,388 people with the first name Rayyan, which placed it at #6,652 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
#6,652
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,388 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
63.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayyan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayyan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.3%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Black (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 Rayyan 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 Rayyan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander63.3% · 1,512
- White21.4% · 511
- Black or African American9.0% · 215
- Two or more races4.4% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Rayyan
Rayyan leans heavily male at 92.5% of total registrations, but 242 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rayyan as a male name
- Ranked #1,320 in 2024
- 147 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (198 births)
Rayyan as a female name
- Ranked #11,888 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (25 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayyan leans strongly male. 2,195 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 203 female bearers (8.5%).
Popularity
Rayyan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayyan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,730 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rayyan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rayyan 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 Rayyan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rayyans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Rayyan, while Minnesota, Connecticut, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 127 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rayyan
Rayyan is a masculine given name of Arabic origin, derived from the Arabic root word "ra'a," meaning "to pasture" or "to graze." The name holds significance in Islamic culture and is often associated with concepts of prosperity, abundance, and spiritual nourishment.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rayyan can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the Islamic Golden Age. It was mentioned in various Arabic literary works and historical records, often referring to individuals who embodied qualities of generosity and benevolence.
One notable historical reference is found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, where the word "rayyan" is used to describe the gardens of paradise, symbolizing eternal bliss and spiritual sustenance. This association has contributed to the name's popularity among Muslim communities worldwide.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rayyan. One such individual was Rayyan al-Umawi (670-725 CE), a renowned Arab poet and scholar from the Umayyad dynasty, renowned for his mastery of Arabic literature and his expertise in various fields of knowledge.
Another prominent figure was Rayyan ibn al-Walid (688-765 CE), a military commander and governor during the Abbasid Caliphate, known for his strategic prowess and leadership in numerous military campaigns and conquests.
In the 12th century, Rayyan al-Baghdadi (1106-1185 CE) was a prominent Islamic scholar and philosopher, renowned for his contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and epistemology. His works had a significant impact on the development of Islamic philosophy and intellectual discourse.
The 13th century witnessed the rise of Rayyan al-Hilli (1210-1287 CE), a renowned Islamic jurist and theologian from the city of Hillah in present-day Iraq. He was widely respected for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his influential teachings on various aspects of Islamic law and theology.
In more recent times, Rayyan al-Shawaf (1913-1998) was a Palestinian writer, journalist, and political activist who played a significant role in advocating for Palestinian rights and raising awareness about the Palestinian cause through his literary works and activism.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Rayyan, each leaving an indelible mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage associated with this remarkable name.
People
Rayyan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayyan 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
Rayyan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayyan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,212 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayyan 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 106,711 US residents.
Is Rayyan a common name?
We classify Rayyan as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayyan most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayyan was 2015, when 219 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayyan is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayyan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,388 people with the name Rayyan, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,652 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 Rayyan 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 Rayyan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayyan leans strongly male. 2,195 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 203 female bearers (8.5%). 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 Rayyan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayyan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.3%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Black (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 Rayyan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rayyan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.3% (1,512 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 Rayyan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayyan a male name?
Yes, 92.5% of people registered as Rayyan 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 Rayyan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayyan 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 Rayyan 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 Rayyan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.