Raeleigh
Feminine · “ewe”
Raeleigh joins Rae to a -leigh ending, and Rae shortens Rachel — a ewe, in Hebrew.
How old is the name Raeleigh?
Raeleigh first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Raeleigh is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,400 people named Raeleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Raeleigh most popular?
Raeleigh peaked in 2021, reaching #1544 nationally. Today it ranks #2410, 866 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From rachel to Raeleigh
The story of Raeleigh
Rachel is a shepherd when Jacob meets her at the well, and her name means a ewe — one of the few biblical names that fits its bearer's occupation. Leah is the commonest element in English place names. American families joined Rae and Leigh in the 2000s, and Raeleigh appears in the registers in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
ewe; clearing
The Rae front generally shortens Rachel, from the Hebrew rachel, 'ewe'. The -leigh ending is the Old English leah, 'clearing'. The compound is modern American. The Hebrew and Old English elements are both settled; the joining is not inherited.
How the name formed
- rachel
- Rae Leigh
- Raeleigh
Related forms: Raelee · Rayleigh
Pronouncing Raeleigh
RAY-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. All the spellings of the sound are said identically.
Nicknames for Raeleigh
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1994
- Most girls named
- 2017138 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1544reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −9.8%74 in 2025, from 82
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Raeleigh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Raelee in English — spelling variant
- Rayleigh in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, Alabama.
Raeleighs among us
people named Raeleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 21,720 born in 2025 was named Raeleigh
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Terrell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Raeleigh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Terrell climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Terrell's path sketches the road Raeleigh is walking now.
Raeleigh 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Raeleigh is headed
Raeleigh should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Raeleigh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Raeleigh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Rachel is a shepherd whose name means a ewe is a first-rate detail.
- Rae and Leigh are two short forms, both with real records.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The compound is modern rather than inherited.
- At least four spellings of the sound are in circulation.
- Rayleigh is also a physics term for light scattering.
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What they receive
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Raeleigh
Feminine · #2410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Raeleighs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Raeleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Raeleigh in 2025?
- Raeleigh ranks #2410 among US girl names in 2025, with 74 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Raeleigh?
- About 1 in every 21,720 US girls born in 2025 was named Raeleigh — 74 in all.
- Will my child share the name Raeleigh with classmates?
- Raeleigh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Raeleigh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayda#2410 · Laina#2410 · Leana#2410 · Sanvi#2410 · Terra#2410 · Sullivan#2410 · Natalya#2410 · Layken#2410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Raeleigh? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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