Randi
Masculine · “Shield of the gods”
Randi is given to both — 1,136 boys and 29,663 girls since 1880. See Randi as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Randi is an ordinary Norwegian name and not a shortening of anything English. It comes from an Old Norse compound and has been in continuous use in Norway for a thousand years, which is not what an American reader assumes on seeing a bare i at the end of a name.
How old is the name Randi?
Randi first appears in US birth records in 1949 — 76 years ago. The typical Randi alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 1,000 people named Randi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Randi most popular?
Randi peaked in 1960, reaching #1229 nationally. See the whole 1960 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ragnfridr to Randi
The story of Randi
The first element is one of the great Norse words. Regin or ragna meant the ruling powers, the gods considered as an authority rather than as individuals, and it stands at the front of a whole set of names; it is also the first half of Ragnarok, which means the fate or doom of the gods and not, as often translated, their twilight. That mistranslation comes from a similar-looking word meaning dusk, and it went into German and then into everybody's general knowledge by way of an opera. The name in this entry carries the same element, which makes it one of the oldest things in the Norwegian name stock.
Meaningscholars disagree
Shield of the gods
The Old Norse original joins a word for the ruling powers or gods to one meaning beautiful or fair, and the modern form is worn down from it. The elements are agreed and the sense of the compound is a matter of reading. The American Randi is likelier a feminine of Randall and the two are unrelated.
How the name formed
- Ragnfridr
- Randi
Related forms: Randi · Randi
Pronouncing Randi
RAN-dee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Norwegian says the same thing with a slightly different first vowel; the bare i ending is standard there rather than modern, which is the reverse of how it reads in America.
Nicknames for Randi
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
- 1949
- Most boys named
- 198136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1229reached in 1960
- Change vs 2014
- 0.0%5 in 2018, from 5
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.
Randi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Randi in Norwegian — same name
- Randi in Danish — same name
Randis among us
people named Randi are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Randi sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is a genuine Scandinavian name with a thousand years behind it.
- Short, warm and impossible to mispronounce in English.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- The record carries it for boys as well as girls, so it signals nothing on a form.
- In English it reads as a clipping of Randall or Miranda whatever is on the certificate.
- The word is an adjective in British English and not a flattering one.
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What they receive
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Randi
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Randis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Randi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Randi in 2025?
- Randi is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Randi with classmates?
- Randi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Randi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Randi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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