Humanverse

Raelene vs Raena

American parents have registered 2,451 Raelenes since 1880, against 1,653 Raenas. But in 2025 it was Raena that was commoner, 35 babies to 6.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Raelene against Raena, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Raelene Raena

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 95 years in which either name was published, Raelene for 61 years and Raena for 34 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Raelene Raena
Total US births 2,4511,653
Most in one year 5555
Babies in 2025 635
Estimated living today 2,1001,600
Median age today 4721
Peak year 19592005
Best rank 1,450th girls2,935th girls
Rank in 2025 13,208th4,067th
First recorded 19291959
Girls / boys 2,451 / 01,653 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Raelenes alive today are over 47; half the Raenas are over 21. That is 26 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Raelene and Raena.