Rayburn
Masculine · “the roe-deer stream”
Rayburn is a stream with deer at it. The two halves are Old English — a word for a roe deer and a word for a brook — and the name describes a specific piece of ground that somebody once needed to distinguish from the next piece along.
How old is the name Rayburn?
Rayburn first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Rayburn alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 1,100 people named Rayburn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rayburn most popular?
Rayburn peaked in 1938, reaching #628 nationally. See the whole 1938 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Rayburn
Burn survives as the ordinary word for a stream across northern England and Scotland and has vanished from the south, which means a name containing it is telling you where its family came from. Rayburn, Blackburn, Bannockburn, Hepburn and Washburn all carry it. The surname crossed to America and moved to the front of the name in the nineteenth century, and it also belongs to the man who held the Speaker's chair in the House of Representatives longer than anyone before or since, across three decades and four presidents.
Meaningscholars disagree
the roe-deer stream
The second half is certainly a burn, the northern English and Scots word for a stream. The first is usually read as a roe deer, though a personal name is also possible.
Pronouncing Rayburn
RAY-burn
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Both halves are ordinary words in northern English.
Nicknames for Rayburn
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
- 1908
- Most boys named
- 194187 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #628reached in 1938
- Change vs 2015
- 0.0%5 in 2023, 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.
Rayburns among us
people named Rayburn 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
Rayburn 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
- Both halves are readable, so the name is said correctly at sight.
- Ray is a ready short form and a complete name in its own right.
- The meaning is concrete: a specific kind of animal at a specific kind of water.
- Raeburn and Rayburn are both in the record and will be confused.
- A British brand of cast-iron cooker carries a similar name, which travelers will hear.
- It reads clearly as a name of the first half of the twentieth century.
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Rayburn
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rayburns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Rayburn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rayburn in 2025?
- Rayburn is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rayburn with classmates?
- Rayburn 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 Rayburn? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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