Raylon
Masculine
Raylon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,288 boys against 17 girls since 1880.
Raylon joins Ray to an ending that has been quietly productive in American naming for a century. The -lon of Marlon and Waylon has no meaning of its own, and it has been making men's names since before anyone noticed it was doing so.
How old is the name Raylon?
Raylon first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Raylon is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,300 people named Raylon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Raylon most popular?
Raylon peaked in 2012, reaching #1849 nationally. Today it ranks #3036, 1,187 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Raylon
Our story of Raylon is about an ending nobody planned. Marlon and Waylon both arrived in twentieth-century America without clear ancestries — Marlon possibly from a French diminutive, Waylon possibly a respelling of Wayland — and both became widely known through performers. Once two names share an ending and both are visible, the ending becomes available: Braylon, Kaylon, Raylon. It has been making names for fifty years and has never meant anything at all. That is a perfectly ordinary way for a piece of a language to work, and it is worth naming as such rather than inventing a source.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Nothing is documented for the compound. Ray is chiefly a short form of Raymond, from Germanic ragin, 'counsel', and mund, 'protector'; it also functions as the English word for a beam of light. The -lon ending appears in Marlon, Waylon and Braylon and has no established meaning in any of them. No derivation for Raylon has been recorded.
Pronouncing Raylon
RAY-lon
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second fuller than a reduced vowel. There is no ambiguity in the sound; the spelling is where the variation lives.
Nicknames for Raylon
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
- 1962
- Most boys named
- 201279 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1849reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- −9.1%40 in 2025, from 44
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.
Raylon in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana.
Raylons among us
people named Raylon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was named Raylon
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 Nicholis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Raylon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nicholis climbed just as high around 1988, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nicholis's path sketches the road Raylon is walking now.
Raylon 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 Raylon is headed
Raylon 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.
Raylon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Raylon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ray and Lon are both real names on their own, so the child has two ready short forms.
- Two easy syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Sits in a familiar rhyme family, so it never sounds foreign.
- It has no documented meaning, so anything offered for it has been supplied.
- Raylon, Raylen, Raylan and Raelon are all in use and none is standard.
- It is tied closely to one stretch of American naming, which will be audible later.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Raylon to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Raylon? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Raylon
Masculine · #3036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Raylons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Raylon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Raylon in 2025?
- Raylon ranks #3036 among US boy names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Raylon?
- About 1 in every 42,702 US boys born in 2025 was named Raylon — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Raylon with classmates?
- Raylon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Raylon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Loren#3036 · Williams#3036 · Collier#3036 · Amadou#3036 · Kavion#3036 · Sheppard#3036 · Koi#3036 · Claude#3036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Raylon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Raylon and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle