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Rael

#2,529 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Diminutive of Israel

Rael has been given to 660 babies in the U.S. since 1979. In 2025 it ranked #2,529 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 61 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 69% boys, 31% girls all-time.

Babies named Rael, 2025

1 in 62,600

Rael over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Rael over time

In 2025, Rael went to 20% girls and 80% boys.

19712025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Rael: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Israel

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Rael means

Rael is a diminutive of Israel.

Origin, language, and formation

Rael is used in Cebuano.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Israel.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 458 boys were recorded with the name Rael between 1979 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 61 in 2024; its best national rank was #2,337 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #5,181 in 2020 to #2,529 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #10,360 in 2015 to #2,529 in 2025.

In the United States, 202 girls were recorded with the name Rael between 1971 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 13 in 2025; its best national rank was #8,235 in 2025.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #15,975 in 2015 to #8,235 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Rael?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 62,600
53 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 32,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,529
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
43,358 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Rael sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 43,358 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Rael. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Raels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Rael was born before 2020 — so the typical Rael is around 5 today.

Median birth year
2020
About 5 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
50.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
89.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
458
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 50.2% of all recorded uses (230).

Is Rael rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−192
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,652
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+7,831
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
7.57×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
86.9%
Peak was 2024 (61)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
47.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,337
2024

Spellings of Rael

Rael is not the most common spelling — Paul is, with 37.7% against Rael's 0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Rael is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Rael was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 615,054 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Florida1 in —
  3. 3Georgia1 in —
  4. 4Massachusetts1 in —
  5. 5New Jersey1 in —
  6. 6New York1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Rael has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Rael is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Rael was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,668,796 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Rael has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Rael around the world

Where Rael ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2025
    #3,256
    in 2025
  • France
    2003–2025
    #1,679
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2023–2023
    #3,103
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1983–1983
    #443
    in 1983

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Rael by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,529
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,652
Best rank ever
#2,337
2024
Peak year
2024
61 that year
First recorded
1979
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
458
Count in 2025
53

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#8,235
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#8,235
2025
Peak year
2025
13 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
202
Count in 2025
13

Names similar to Rael

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

RaedRaefWaelDaelRaeSaelZaelRaeganRaedenChaelLaelMaelAdaelRaedynNaelRaeesXaelSamaelMykaelEzraelMizaelRefaelRaelynHazael

Sibling names for Rael

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Rael

Top names of 2024, Rael's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2024Boys' names starting with R