Raye

Raye is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English84%

  (i) medieval nickname for regal behavior or pageant kingship, from Old French rey/roy ‘king’; (ii) nickname for a shy or retiring person, from Middle English ray ‘female roe deer’; (iii) a different form of Rye; (iv) a different form of Wray

  as a name·Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]

• Spanish6.4%

  inflection of rayar:

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Raye, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Sailor
• Faye
• May
• Mae
• Joy
• Rey
• Moon
• Rei
• Wren
• Jane
• Fae
• Jean

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Raye is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Argentina, Brazil

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Rayé, Râyë

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Rayé

• French given name6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Cameroon, Congo - Kinshasa

  Also written Rayé, Rayè, Ràyé, Râyé

• Chinese given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong

  Also written Rayé, Ray-E

53 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Raye is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Yoruba, to buy a particular amount of something

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In zza, road

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Raye Montagueb. 1935USAmerican naval engineer (1935-2018)
• Raye RodriguezUSCuban American animator and producer
• Jeannie Raye AlbrechtUSPh.D. University of California, San Diego 2007

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Is Raye a male or female name?

Raye is a female name. National registers that list it by sex list it as female: United States (Census Bureau, 2020).

What does the name Raye mean, and where does it come from?

(i) medieval nickname for regal behavior or pageant kingship, from Old French rey/roy ‘king’; (ii) nickname for a shy or retiring person, from Middle English ray ‘female roe deer’; (iii) a different f… Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

How do you pronounce Raye?

In Spanish /raʝe/. Transcriptions are machine-generated except where a dictionary is named.

In which country does Raye have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 1.6 thousand people named Raye, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled raye.

How common is the name Raye?

In the United States, the national register counted 1,642 people named Raye in 2020, about 1 in 203 thousand residents.