Rayshawn
Masculine · “God is gracious”
Rayshawn is given to both — 4,004 boys and 178 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Rayshawn joins Ray to Shawn, and Shawn is the English spelling of Seán, which is Irish for John. One half of this name is fifty years old and the other is two thousand.
How old is the name Rayshawn?
Rayshawn first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Rayshawn alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 3,900 people named Rayshawn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rayshawn most popular?
Rayshawn peaked in 1991, reaching #954 nationally. Today it ranks #3240, 2,286 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Rayshawn
Our reading rather than the record's. By the 1970s Shawn was among the most-used boys' names in America, having arrived from Ireland, been respelled so English speakers could read it, and then been adopted by families with no Irish connection at all. African-American naming then took the familiar half and put a new front on it, producing Rayshawn, Deshawn and Rashawn within a few years. The Irish form of a Hebrew name ended up inside a set of American names, which is a good short history of how names actually travel.
Meaningscholars disagree
God is gracious
The Shawn in it is documented: Irish Seán is the Gaelic form of John, from Hebrew Yohanan, and English wrote it Shawn and Shaun. Whether Rayshawn was built on that name deliberately or assembled from the Ray- and -shawn pieces that were both productive in American naming is not recorded.
Pronouncing Rayshawn
RAY-shawn
Two syllables, first stressed. Some families move the stress to the second, ray-SHAWN.
Nicknames for Rayshawn
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
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 2006132 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #954reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- +56.5%36 in 2025, from 23
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.
Rayshawn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Seán in Irish — related form
- Shawn in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio, New York, Michigan.
Rayshawns among us
people named Rayshawn are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 47,447 born in 2025 was named Rayshawn
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 Tina test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rayshawn's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tina climbed just as high around 1967, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tina's path sketches the road Rayshawn is walking now.
Rayshawn 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 Rayshawn is headed
Rayshawn is easing off slowly — about 25% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Rayshawn beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rayshawn in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two complete, familiar names sit inside it and both work at any age.
- Read correctly on sight by any English speaker.
- It belongs to a documented American naming tradition rather than standing alone.
- Rayshaun, Rayshon and Rayshawn all appear and the spelling will be asked for.
- The stress is unsettled between the first and second syllables.
- There is no documented meaning for the compound, only for its second half.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rayshawn to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rayshawn
Masculine · #3240 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rayshawns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,900 people named Rayshawn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rayshawn in 2025?
- Rayshawn ranks #3240 among US boy names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rayshawn?
- About 1 in every 47,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Rayshawn — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rayshawn with classmates?
- Rayshawn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rayshawn
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenio#3240 · Pace#3240 · Stoney#3240 · Dany#3240 · Rasheed#3240 · Abdirahman#3240 · Mykah#3240 · Lowell#3240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rayshawn? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rayshawn and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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