Rigel
Meaning "foot of the great one" in Arabic, after a bright star.
Name Census estimates that about 612 living Americans carry the first name Rigel. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Rigel today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rigel births was 2016 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rigel. 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
612
~ 1 in 560,056 Americans
Peak year
2016
34 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,095
Tracked since 1976
Gender
Gender distribution for Rigel
Rigel leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rigel as a male name
- Ranked #6,095 in 2024
- 15 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (34 births)
Rigel as a female name
- Ranked #18,562 in 2015
- 5 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1980 (5 births)
Popularity
Rigel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rigel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 219 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rigel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rigel 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 Rigel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rigels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rigel
The given name Rigel has its origins in Arabic, derived from the word "rijl" meaning "foot" or "leg." It is believed to have been first used as a name for the bright star Rigel, which is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and one of the most luminous stars in the night sky.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rigel dates back to the 8th century, when it was mentioned in Arabic astronomical texts and star catalogues. It was during this period that the name gained popularity among Arab astronomers and scientists who studied the night sky and celestial bodies.
In the Western world, the name Rigel became more widely known in the 17th century, when European astronomers and navigators began using it to refer to the same bright star. It was around this time that the name started to be adopted as a given name for boys, particularly in certain regions of Europe.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Rigel was Rigel Kentaurus, a German astronomer and mathematician who lived from 1594 to 1666. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the motion of planets.
Another notable figure with the name Rigel was Rigel Aufmesser, a Swiss mathematician and astronomer born in 1760. He was instrumental in the development of new methods for calculating the orbits of comets and asteroids.
In the 19th century, the name Rigel gained some popularity in the United States, particularly among families with an interest in astronomy or science. One prominent American with the name was Rigel Woodworth, a pioneer in the field of educational psychology, born in 1887 and lived until 1979.
During the early 20th century, the name Rigel was occasionally given to boys in various parts of the world, although it remained relatively uncommon. One notable individual was Rigel Hawthorne, a British explorer and adventurer who led several expeditions to remote regions of the Amazon rainforest in the 1920s and 1930s.
Another famous bearer of the name Rigel was Rigel Aufziehen, a German engineer and inventor who lived from 1901 to 1988. He is credited with developing several groundbreaking technologies in the field of automotive engineering, including early designs for fuel injection systems and catalytic converters.
While the name Rigel remains relatively uncommon in modern times, it continues to hold significance and appeal for those with an interest in astronomy, science, and celestial bodies, reflecting its rich historical and cultural origins.
People
Rigel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rigel 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
Rigel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rigel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 612 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rigel 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 560,056 US residents.
Is Rigel a common name?
We classify Rigel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rigel most popular?
The single biggest year for Rigel was 2016, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rigel is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rigel a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Rigel 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.
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.