Raya
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Meaning
big, great, grand (as in Hari Raya)
The story
Raya is a small name with passports from three directions: in Bulgarian and Russian nurseries it is the affectionate short of Rayna and Raisa; in Indonesian and Malay it is the word for great and grand, the one in Hari Raya, the festival day; in Hebrew it is ra'ya, friend, beloved, the word the Song of Songs uses. America mostly met it in March 2021, when Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon gave the name to a warrior princess of Kumandra, and the record turned on the spot: about 2,100 across the whole 2010s, then 4,260 already this decade, past double the full 2010s with years to run; name-watchers give the movie the credit outright. Underneath the surge the name stays what it was everywhere else, small, warm, and grand at once. Three languages agree on the sound; the child gets all three meanings.
How popular is Raya around the world?
In the United States, 4,261 babies were named Raya between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 547 girls named Raya were born in 2025, the 82nd most common name among girls that year.
Raya is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, Austria, South Australia, France, Poland, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,100
In the United States, 4,261 babies were named Raya between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Raya peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 1,100
In England and Wales, 547 girls named Raya were born in 2025, the 82nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 1,100
In Ireland, 48 girls named Raya were born in 2025, the 99th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 1,200
In Scotland, 38 girls named Raya were registered in 2024, the 117th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 2,000
In Canada, 183 girls named Raya were born in 2024, the 149th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 3,000
In New Zealand, 19 girls named Raya were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Austria
1 in 4,800
In Austria, 16 girls named Raya were born in 2025, the 326th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
South Australia
1 in 6,1002017
In South Australia, 3 girls were registered as Raya in 2017.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
France
1 in 32,000
In France, about 20 girls named Raya were born in 2025, ranked 1,510th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Poland
1 in 120,000
In Poland, 2 girls named Raya were born in 2025, the 706th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Spain
1 in 520,000
In Spain, 87 residents are named Raya, ranked 8,744th among women, with a mean age of 25.6 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 136 people in Brazil were named Raya, ranked 33,256th, with a median age of 14.
Among people named Raya living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 27 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Raya
Most people given the name Raya in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Raya deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Raya truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Raya fits with your family’s names and surname.
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