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Raya

#369 in 2025Girls' name

Diminutive of Rayna

Raya has been given to 8,008 babies in the U.S. since 1958. In 2025 it ranked #369 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 867 recorded.

Babies named Raya, 2025

1 in 3,990

Raya over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
02505007501K18801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Raya: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Rayna

Malay

What Raya means

Raya is a diminutive of Rayna.

Meaning behind the documented name family

Raya is a diminutive of Rayna. Rayna has more than one origin or interpretation.

Origin, language, and formation

Raya is used in Indonesian and Malay. Its origins include Malay.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Rayna.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,003 girls were recorded with the name Raya between 1958 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 867 in 2023; its best national rank was #353 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #933 in 2020 to #369 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,211 in 2015 to #369 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Raya between 2025 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2025; its best national rank was #13,440 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 Raya?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 3,990
831 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 1,930
0.05% of girls
Rank, 2025
#369
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
2,766 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Raya sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 1002%
School of 50012%

Put another way: gather 2,766 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Raya. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Rayas were born

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

Median birth year
2020
About 5 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
53.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
91.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
8,003
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 53.2% of all recorded uses (4,256).

Is Raya 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
−4
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+564
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+842
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
4.03×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
95.8%
Peak was 2023 (867)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
15.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#353
2023

Spellings of Raya

Raya is not the most common spelling — Sara is, with 9.6% against Raya's 0.18%.

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 Raya is used

Across 2016–2025, Raya was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 1,220 girls, against 1 in 2,818 across all states with data. It was least common in Nebraska (1 in 8,333).

1282 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 1,220
  2. 2Minnesota1 in 1,754
  3. 3Wisconsin1 in 1,754
  4. 4Washington1 in 1,923
  5. 5Oregon1 in 2,000
  6. 6Massachusetts1 in 2,083
  7. 7Idaho1 in 2,222
  8. 8Oklahoma1 in 2,222

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.

Geographically, Raya is used remarkably evenly across the country — more concentrated than 7% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Raya around the world

Where Raya 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
    1996–2025
    #82
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2012–2025
    #106
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2014–2025
    #82
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2010–2025
    #99
    in 2025
  • France
    1983–2025
    #1,510
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #149
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1968–2013
    #818
    in 2013

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

Notable people named Raya

People whose public names include Raya, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Raya in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Raya. Linked forms have their own page here.

AjaAyaRaiaRayah

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Raya by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#369
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 564
Best rank ever
#353
2023
Peak year
2023
867 that year
First recorded
1958
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,003
Count in 2025
831

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#13,440
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#13,440
2025
Peak year
2025
5 that year
First recorded
2025
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Raya

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

RayneRayRayeRaynaTayaNayaKayaRayleeJayaAyaAlayaRaylaZayaRayahRayvenRaynLayaArayaChayaRayanMalayaAnayaHayaInaya

Names with a curve like Raya

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Raya, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SylvieAilaniEloraCapriDreamSalemNoaAriAlessiaElodieNalaniMylah

Sibling names for Raya

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 Raya

Top names of 2023, Raya's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2023Girls' names starting with RIndonesian Girl NamesMalay Girl NamesMalay NamesMuslim Girl Names