Raja
Masculine · “king”
Raja is given to both — 864 boys and 376 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Raja is a king in Sanskrit and hope in Arabic, and the two are entirely unconnected. The Sanskrit word is one of the oldest royal titles in the world, related to Latin rex and to the English word regal; the Arabic is a common women's name. Its American use on boys peaks in 2001.
How old is the name Raja?
Raja first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Raja alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 800 people named Raja are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Raja most popular?
Raja peaked in 2001, reaching #2618 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 3,525 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From raj to Raja
The story of Raja
Raja and its compounds — Maharaja, Rajendra, Rajesh, Rajiv — are among the most productive elements in Indian naming, and the word itself was a title before it was a name. Its Indo-European pedigree is one of the clearest demonstrations of the family's unity: raja, rex, ri in Old Irish, and the Germanic -ric of Frederick and Roderick are all the same word. Arabic Raja belongs to a different tradition entirely, from a root about hoping. American records carry both, and the boys' use points at the Sanskrit while the girls' points at the Arabic.
Meaningscholars disagree
king, in the Sanskrit reading
Sanskrit rajan, nominative raja, means a king, from a root raj, 'to rule, to shine' — the same Indo-European root that gives Latin rex, regis and English regal, royal and reign. That is settled. Arabic raja is a separate word meaning hope or expectation, used as a women's name across the Arab world. The spelling is identical in English and the two names have no common ancestor.
How the name formed
- raj
- rajan
- Raja
Related forms: Rajan · Raja · Raja · Raja
Pronouncing Raja
RAH-jah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with open vowels. The Arabic name is said rah-JAH with the stress at the end and a slightly different final consonant. Both are heard on American bearers.
Nicknames for Raja
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
- 1967
- Most boys named
- 200136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2618reached in 2001
- Change vs 2024
- +7.7%14 in 2025, from 13
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.
Raja in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rajan in Sanskrit — related form
- Raja in Hindi — same name
- Raja in Arabic — same name
- Raja in Malay — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Rajas among us
people named Raja are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Raja
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Raja
- #6143
- Raja on the 2025 chart
- #907
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Raja went to 14 boys in 2025, but Rajah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 21, which makes it the 907th most-given boys’ name of the year — 5,236 places above the chart.
- Raja14
- Rajah7
About 1 boy in 81,337 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 122,005 for Raja itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Deryck test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Raja's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Deryck climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Deryck's path sketches the road Raja is walking now.
Raja 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
Raja beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Raja in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Sanskrit meaning is a single word with an unusually clear Indo-European pedigree.
- Raj is a complete name available as a short form.
- It is short and made only of sounds English already has.
- The Arabic name of the same spelling is feminine, which causes occasional confusion.
- The literal meaning is a royal title, which some families find heavy.
- It is close to Raja, Rajah and Raya in sound.
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What they receive
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Raja
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rajas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Raja are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Raja?
- Raja is the most-used spelling in US records — 14 of the 21 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Rajah.
- How popular is the name Raja in 2025?
- Raja ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Raja?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Raja — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Raja with classmates?
- Raja will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Raja
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Kemper#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Marquan#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Raja? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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