Raleigh
Masculine · “roe deer clearing”
Raleigh is given to both — 9,279 boys and 3,057 girls since 1880. See Raleigh as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Raleigh is a Devon place name — the clearing where deer or roe live — carried by the man who gave his name to the capital of North Carolina and lost his head to James I.
How old is the name Raleigh?
Raleigh was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Raleigh alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 5,000 people named Raleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Raleigh most popular?
Raleigh peaked in 1891, reaching #349 nationally. Today it ranks #2207, 1,858 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ra leah to Raleigh
The story of Raleigh
Walter Raleigh sponsored the Roanoke colony, popularized tobacco in England, was imprisoned in the Tower for thirteen years and was executed in 1618. North Carolina named its capital for him in 1792. American families used the surname as a given name in the nineteenth century, and it peaked around 1918.
Meaningscholars disagree
roe deer clearing
From the Old English ra, 'roe deer', and leah, 'wood' or 'clearing'. A second reading takes the first element as read, 'red'. Both are documented for the Devon places from which the surname comes, and neither is settled.
How the name formed
- ra leah
- Raleigh
Related forms: Rawley · Raley
Pronouncing Raleigh
RAW-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some American speakers say RAL-ee with a short first vowel, and both are established.
Nicknames for Raleigh
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1921139 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #349reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- −1.5%64 in 2025, from 65
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.
Raleigh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rawley in English — spelling variant
- Raley in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, North Carolina, California.
Raleighs among us
people named Raleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 26,689 born in 2025 was named Raleigh
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Raleigh 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 Raleigh is headed
Raleigh 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.
Raleigh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Raleigh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The roe-deer clearing meaning is concrete and belongs to a large family of English place names.
- A genuinely eventful historical figure and an American state capital carry it.
- Lee is available as a short form with an enormous record.
- The first vowel splits between two readings.
- It reads as a place name and a surname before it reads as a given name.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Raleigh
Masculine · #2207 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Raleighs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,000 people named Raleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Raleigh in 2025?
- Raleigh ranks #2207 among US boy names in 2025, with 64 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Raleigh?
- About 1 in every 26,689 US boys born in 2025 was named Raleigh — 64 in all.
- Will my child share the name Raleigh with classmates?
- Raleigh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Raleigh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jaciel#2207 · Zayaan#2207 · Damarion#2207 · Sylvester#2207 · Gannon#2207 · Canon#2207 · Elam#2207 · Jaydon#2207
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Raleigh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Raleigh and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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