Head to head · Boys' names
Lewis vs Raiden
#433 vs #432 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Raiden is a whisker ahead (#432 vs #433 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Lewis leads 4 measures of 6; Raiden leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Lewis #41, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1890s: Lewis #56, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1900s: Lewis #62, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1910s: Lewis #70, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1920s: Lewis #78, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1930s: Lewis #97, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1940s: Lewis #118, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1950s: Lewis #160, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1960s: Lewis #218, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1970s: Lewis #271, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1980s: Lewis #337, Raiden — — Lewis higher
- 1990s: Lewis #477, Raiden #4835 — Lewis higher
- 2000s: Lewis #640, Raiden #1244 — Lewis higher
- 2010s: Lewis #593, Raiden #481 — Raiden higher
- 2020s: Lewis #468, Raiden #407 — Raiden higher
Lewis stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Raiden has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Lewis | Raiden |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #41 | — |
| 1890s | #56 | — |
| 1900s | #62 | — |
| 1910s | #70 | — |
| 1920s | #78 | — |
| 1930s | #97 | — |
| 1940s | #118 | — |
| 1950s | #160 | — |
| 1960s | #218 | — |
| 1970s | #271 | — |
| 1980s | #337 | — |
| 1990s | #477 | #4835 |
| 2000s | #640 | #1244 |
| 2010s | #593 | #481 |
| 2020s | #468 | #407 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Lewis
- Scotland#22
Raiden
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Lewis
Famous warrior
The name descends from a Germanic compound about fame and battle, by way of the French royal name. The Scottish island called Lewis is a completely separate word from a different language and has no connection to the personal name.
Hludwig → Louis → Lewis
How it traveled
Two things carry the name and neither is a person. The Lewis chessmen were found on a beach in the Hebrides in the eighteen-thirties — ninety-odd pieces of carved walrus ivory, probably made in Norway, with expressions on the faces that have made them the most recognizable medieval objects in Britain: queens with their hands to their cheeks, bishops looking tired, berserkers biting their shields.
Raiden
thunder and lightning
From Japanese 雷電: 雷 rai, thunder, and 電 den, lightning or electricity. The same thunder character sits in Raijin, the thunder deity of Japanese folk religion.
雷電 (Japanese, thunder and lightning) → Raiden (romanized Japanese, used as a ring name) → Raiden (English given name)
How it traveled
In Japanese, raiden is an ordinary noun before it is ever a name — the sound and the flash together. It has long been used as a ring name rather than a birth name: an eighteenth-century sumo champion fought under it, and the word carries that combative weight in Japan still.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Lewis
LOO-iss
Two syllables, stress at the front. The English form sounds its final s; the French one does not.
- Lew — The front clipped, plain and durable.
- Lou — The same sound from the French spelling, unisex in American use.
Raiden
RAY-den
RAY-den is the standard American pronunciation. Japanese puts the two vowels of rai together so it lands closer to RYE-den; both are heard, and families usually settle on one early.
- Ray — The most common short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Rai — Keeps the Japanese first syllable; used informally, sometimes spelled Rye by people going on sound alone.
- Den — Less used, but available from the second half of the name.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Lewis if you want…
- a name on the way upup 64 places on the charts in five years
- a name that charts abroad tooLewis is on the national lists of Scotland
- a long American recordLewis was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Raiden
Choose Raiden if you want…
- a name holding steadyRaiden is holding its place on the charts
- a newer arrivalRaiden entered the US charts in 1993
- a name that feels very nowRaiden is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Lewis
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and the name is understood across Europe.
- It works equally as a first name and a surname, which few names do.
- It has short forms that are warm without being childish.
To consider
- Louis is the commoner spelling in many countries and the two are said differently.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though the boys hold nearly all of it.
- It is a very common surname, which occasionally confuses a form.
Raiden
Strengths
- A meaning that needs no explanation — thunder and lightning, straight from the Japanese word, with nothing contested about it.
- Two syllables, six letters, and a stress pattern English speakers hit correctly on first sight.
- Ray is a ready-made short form that already works as a full name on its own.
To consider
- The route into American use runs through video games, and some people will place it there immediately. That association has faded as the name has spread, but it is the first thing a certain generation will say.
- Rayden, Raidyn and Raeden all exist alongside this spelling, so expect to confirm which one you mean when someone writes it down.
- It is a Japanese word carried by mostly non-Japanese families in the US, which is worth thinking through if the connection matters to you either way.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Lewis
12%chance Lewis feels dated by 2040
Lewis has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Raiden
40%chance Raiden feels dated by 2040
Raiden sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Lewis and Raiden in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Lewis and Raiden?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Scottish gems the US hasn't discovered
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- Names borrowed from explorers
- all guides
Where Lewis and Raiden each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Lewis or Raiden — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Lewis or Raiden?
- Raiden, in 2025: Raiden ranked #432 with 739 babies; Lewis ranked #433 with 736 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Lewis or Raiden?
- Lewis. Over the last five years Lewis moved up 64 places; Raiden moved down 29 places.
- Which is the older name, Lewis or Raiden?
- Lewis was already in use when US records began in 1880; Raiden entered the US charts in 1993. On the American record, Lewis is the older name.
- How many people are named Lewis and Raiden?
- About 65,000 people named Lewis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,500 people named Raiden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lewiss or Raidens in the classroom?
- Lewis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Raiden will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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