Raya

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Raya: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Raya: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #70, and it was still inside the top 100 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
52times a registrar ranked it
30years from first to last
#70highest recorded position
13groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2350
1997	#2411
1998	#3848
1999	#3900
2000	#3247
2001	#2226
2002	#3409
2003	#1472
2004	#1383
2005	#1500
2006	#835
2007	#764
2008	#767
2009	#783
2010	#840
2011	#744
2012	#701
2013	#575
2014	#521
2015	#496
2016	#454
2017	#453
2018	#519
2019	#430
2020	#393
2021	#203
2022	#121
2023	#100
2024	#82

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #70 among girls in Northern Ireland, #82 among girls in England and Wales, #117 among girls in Scotland, #213 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1996–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #2350 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded2014–2024
Highest recorded position: #70 among girls in Northern Ireland, in 2024 (recorded 2014–2024).
Northern Ireland · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #99 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Raya appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 2,855 births with the name.

Raya across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Raya's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Girls	#2350 (1996)	#82 (2024)	#82 (2024)	29 of 29	2,855 (1996–2024)	574 (2024)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#910 (2010)	#99 (2025)	#99 (2025)	11 of 16	139 (2010–2025)	48 (2025)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#365 (2014)	#70 (2024)	#70 (2024)	10 of 11	99 (2014–2024)	28 (2024)

Raya by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Raya in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	18	4 of 10	5
2000s	229	10 of 10	23
2010s	764	10 of 10	76
2020sbusiest	1,844	5 of 10	369

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 369 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2021 and 2022, when recorded births rose by 172, from 251 to 423.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Raya appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #70 in Northern Ireland in 2024.

Raya's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#82	574	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#100	486	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#121	423	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#203	251	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#393	110	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#4608	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#430	98	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#519	82	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#453	97	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#454	96	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#496	87	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#521	81	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#575	71	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#701	59	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#744	51	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#840	42	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#783	45	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#767	45	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#764	43	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#835	36	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1500	15	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#1383	16	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#1472	14	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#3409	4	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2226	7	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3247	4	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3900	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#3848	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#2411	6	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#2350	6	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	female	#70	28	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	female	#95	22	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	female	#147	14	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	female	#298	5	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	female	#192	9	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	female	#263	6	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#313	5	High	Verified
2016	Northern Ireland	female	#440	3	High	Verified
2015	Northern Ireland	female	#426	3	High	Verified
2014	Northern Ireland	female	#365	4	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#99	48	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#213	20	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#296	13	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#222	20	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#299	14	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#700	4	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#716	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#661	5	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#660	5	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#876	3	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	female	#910	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#117	38	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1996 and 2025, ranked in 30 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #70, first reached in 2024.

It held a top-100 place in 3 years, 3 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 574 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2010, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Rawen · #1825, 13y
Ray · #251, 40y
Rayaan · #388, 25y
Rayah · #328, 22y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Elliott · #71, 34y
Lucie · #71, 31y
Ottilie · #69, 30y
Candice · #72, 35y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Harmony · #70, 30y
Keegan · #70, 30y
Maeva · #70, 22y
Brock · #69, 27y

Raya was ranked #70 in Northern Ireland · Girls in 2024. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Raya and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Raya without appearing here.

Raya moved ahead of

Josefine Compare
In 2002 they stood at #3900 and #3225 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2003 that had become #1472 and #4373.
Meabh Compare
In 2002 they stood at #3409 and #2868 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2003 that had become #1472 and #4373.
Therese Compare
In 2002 they stood at #3409 and #3409 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2003 that had become #1472 and #4373.
Brittany Compare
In 2005 they stood at #1500 and #1500 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2006 that had become #835 and #3548.

Moved ahead of Raya

Mila Compare
In 1997 they stood at #2411 and #3174 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1998 that had become #3848 and #2701.
Harper Compare
In 2011 they stood at #744 and #858 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #701 and #284.
Ada Compare
In 2007 they stood at #764 and #919 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2008 that had become #767 and #699.
Aria Compare
In 2009 they stood at #783 and #1248 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2010 that had become #840 and #773.

Moved the opposite way to Raya

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 while Abigail went from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 while Aimee went from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 while Aisling went from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 while Alex went from #161 to #2253.

Moved the same way as Raya

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 and Ada from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 and Alma from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 and Alyssa from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Raya went from #2350 to #82 and Amalie from #2096 to #1128.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #70 in Northern Ireland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Raya

Raya at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Raya across 3 official records

Raya by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Raya appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Raya

Raya and the names beside it

Raya moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Raya

Moved the opposite way to Raya

Moved the same way as Raya

Raya at a glance

Raya across 3 official records

Raya by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Raya appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Raya

Raya and the names beside it

Raya moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Raya

Moved the opposite way to Raya

Moved the same way as Raya