Raylan
Meaning
variant of Rylan incorporating Ray; Rylan itself possibly from Ryland, or invented
The story
Raylan is carried in Behind the Name's community database as a variant of Rylan incorporating the diminutive Ray, and Rylan itself is hedged at the source: possibly a variant of Ryland, or an invented name inspired by names like Ryan and Riley. The name's most visible bearer is on the record too: Raylan Givens, the Deputy U.S. Marshal created by the novelist Elmore Leonard, who took the name from a real man he met in 1991; the character later reached television in Justified, which ran from 2010 to 2015. The published American record: about 73 boys in the 2000s, about 4,400 in the 2010s, the marshal's own decade, and about 2,340 so far this one. A hedged coinage, a name borrowed from a real man, and a record with a marshal standing in the middle of it.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Raylan peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
4,401 people · the #2,996 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 45,455 · median age 13
Among people named Raylan living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 552 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Raylan
Most people given the name Raylan 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.
The Raylan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Raylan 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 Raylan fits with your family’s names and surname.
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