# Rainey (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/rainey/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “descendant of raighne” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Rainy, Raney, Ranney, Rannie, Rany, Raynie, Reaney, Reany, Rennie, Renny |
| US babies named this | 2,632 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 450 / 2,182 (83% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 51, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Raighne (“descendant of Raighne”), a Gaelicized form of the Old Norse personal name Rognvaldr.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 40 | 3,824 |
| 2012 | 41 | 3,840 |
| 2013 | 48 | 3,359 |
| 2014 | 45 | 3,530 |
| 2015 | 44 | 3,583 |
| 2016 | 60 | 2,855 |
| 2017 | 62 | 2,771 |
| 2018 | 50 | 3,236 |
| 2019 | 58 | 2,883 |
| 2020 | 74 | 2,393 |
| 2021 | 82 | 2,262 |
| 2022 | 90 | 2,137 |
| 2023 | 75 | 2,411 |
| 2024 | 78 | 2,359 |
| 2025 | 76 | 2,376 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 6 | 7,042 |
| 1991 | 5 | 9,273 |
| 1992 | 7 | 7,218 |
| 1993 | 5 | 9,821 |
| 1994 | 6 | 8,553 |
| 1995 | 6 | 8,623 |
| 1996 | 8 | 6,960 |
| 1998 | 5 | 10,914 |
| 1999 | 9 | 6,964 |
| 2001 | 8 | 8,135 |
| 2003 | 7 | 9,383 |
| 2004 | 6 | 11,016 |
| 2014 | 5 | 13,582 |
| 2019 | 6 | 11,812 |
| 2024 | 6 | 12,019 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 6 | 3,397 |
| 2013 | 3 | 5,742 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2019 | 5 | 4,001 |
| 2020 | 7 | 3,117 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,970 |
| 2023 | 8 | 2,927 |
| 2024 | 6 | 3,695 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

## People named Rainey

- Rainey Qualley, American actress and singer
- William Rainey Harper, American academic administrator (1856-1906)
- Cole Swindell, American singer-songwriter

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.