Head to head · Girls' names
Raegan vs Renata
#505 vs #481 in 2025
Renata is a whisker ahead (#481 vs #505 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Renata is holding its place on the charts, Raegan is stepping back from its peak.
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, Renata leads 4 measures of 6; Raegan 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
- 1900s: Raegan —, Renata #1670 — Renata higher
- 1910s: Raegan —, Renata #2104 — Renata higher
- 1920s: Raegan —, Renata #3201 — Renata higher
- 1930s: Raegan —, Renata #2751 — Renata higher
- 1940s: Raegan —, Renata #3440 — Renata higher
- 1950s: Raegan —, Renata #1642 — Renata higher
- 1960s: Raegan #3814, Renata #1167 — Renata higher
- 1970s: Raegan #2815, Renata #1584 — Renata higher
- 1980s: Raegan #3590, Renata #1247 — Renata higher
- 1990s: Raegan #1535, Renata #2309 — Raegan higher
- 2000s: Raegan #482, Renata #1778 — Raegan higher
- 2010s: Raegan #292, Renata #661 — Raegan higher
- 2020s: Raegan #375, Renata #501 — Raegan higher
Renata stood higher in 9 of 13 decades; Raegan has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Raegan | Renata |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | — | #1670 |
| 1910s | — | #2104 |
| 1920s | — | #3201 |
| 1930s | — | #2751 |
| 1940s | — | #3440 |
| 1950s | — | #1642 |
| 1960s | #3814 | #1167 |
| 1970s | #2815 | #1584 |
| 1980s | #3590 | #1247 |
| 1990s | #1535 | #2309 |
| 2000s | #482 | #1778 |
| 2010s | #292 | #661 |
| 2020s | #375 | #501 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Raegan
from the Irish personal name Riagán, most often read as 'little king'
Two readings compete. The most widely repeated links Riagán to Irish rí, 'king', giving 'little king' or 'descendant of the king'. Others connect it to a root meaning 'impulsive' or 'fierce'. Neither has won; the name is old enough that its first element is genuinely obscure.
Riagán → Ó Riagáin → Regan → Reagan → Raegan
How it traveled
The name begins as Riagán, an early Irish personal name, which gave the surname Ó Riagáin — anglicized as O'Regan, Regan and Reagan, long associated with counties Cork, Limerick and Meath. Irish emigration carried the surname across the United States in the nineteenth century, where, like Ryan, Kennedy and Quinn, it eventually crossed over into use as a first name.
Renata
born again, reborn
From Latin renatus, the past participle of renasci, "to be born again" — the feminine of Renatus.
Renatus → Renata → Renée → Renate
How it traveled
The name begins as a Latin word rather than a Latin story: renatus, "born again," adopted as a personal name by Christians in late antiquity for whom rebirth meant baptism. Renata is its feminine form, and it settled early in Italy and then spread through Catholic Europe — Poland, Bohemia, the German lands, Spain and Portugal, Lithuania — usually with the spelling intact.
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
Raegan
RAY-gən
Stress on the first syllable, with the second reduced to something close to 'gun'. The related spelling Regan is sometimes said REE-gan, especially in Shakespeare; Raegan's ae signals the long A and largely prevents that.
- Rae — The standard short form, and a long-established given name in its own right, so it works on a résumé as well as at the dinner table.
- Rae-Rae — A family and playground doubling, generally used with young children and rarely carried into adulthood.
- Gan — An occasional informal clip used among siblings and close friends; uncommon.
Renata
reh-NAH-tah
Stress on the middle syllable, with an open ah. English speakers sometimes flatten the ending to reh-NAH-tuh, and a few reach for ruh-NAY-tah; a single correction usually settles it.
- Rena — The most common English short form; also used on its own as a given name.
- Reni — Informal, common in Central European use.
- Renia — Polish diminutive, family and affectionate use.
- Nata — Informal short form taken from the end of the name, heard in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families.
- Also Renny.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Raegan if you want…
- a name fewer children share#505 in 2025 — raegan will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsRaegan is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesRaegan is 2 syllables to Renata's 3
Choose Renata if you want…
- a name most people already know#481 in 2025, 635 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 25 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itRenata runs 3 syllables, Raegan 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Rena, Reni and Renia
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
Raegan
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for English speakers — the ae spelling points clearly to the long A.
- Comes with Rae, a short form that also stands alone as a full given name.
- Sits on a surname with a documented Irish line going back to the personal name Riagán.
To consider
- Reagan is the spelling most people reach for first. Expect a lifetime of gentle corrections: spelling it out on forms, and finding it written the other way on coffee cups and class lists.
- The surname is strongly attached to Ronald Reagan in American ears, which for some families is a plus and for others a reason to pause. The effect fades with the respelling but does not disappear.
- In Shakespeare's King Lear, Regan is one of the treacherous daughters — a faint literary shadow that most people will not make, though English teachers may.
Renata
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Italian, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese, so it crosses languages without adjustment.
- The meaning is transparent and documented — Latin renatus, "born again" — with no competing readings.
- Phonetic spelling: every letter is pronounced, and there is only one accepted way to write it.
To consider
- English speakers may hesitate between reh-NAH-tah and ruh-NAY-tah, and Renata is easily heard as Renate or Renee over the phone. Nothing that a repeat won't fix, but expect the repeat.
- The "born again" sense is genuinely baptismal in origin, and some listeners will hear a specifically religious note in it. Others will hear only a Latin name.
- Familiar in sound but uncommon in practice: your daughter is unlikely to share it with a classmate, which some families want and others find isolating.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Raegan and Renata 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 Raegan and Renata?
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
Where Raegan and Renata each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Raegan or Renata — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Raegan or Renata?
- Renata, in 2025: Renata ranked #481 with 635 babies; Raegan ranked #505 with 589 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Raegan or Renata?
- Renata. Over the last five years Raegan moved down 246 places; Renata moved up 25 places.
- Which is the older name, Raegan or Renata?
- Raegan entered the US charts in 1963; Renata entered the US charts in 1900. On the American record, Renata is the older name.
- How many people are named Raegan and Renata?
- About 25,000 people named Raegan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 14,000 people named Renata are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Raegans or Renatas in the classroom?
- Raegan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Renata will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Raegan, Renata and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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