# Raleigh (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/raleigh/  
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 | English |
| Meaning | “roe deer”, “woodland”, “clearing”, “lea” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹɔːli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 12,336 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 9,279 / 3,057 (25% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English rā, rāha (“roe deer”) + lēah (“woodland, clearing”). Equivalent to roe + -ley (“lea”).

## What it means

Raleigh is grouped under deer.

## 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 | 99 | 1,998 |
| 2012 | 108 | 1,869 |
| 2013 | 119 | 1,742 |
| 2014 | 122 | 1,723 |
| 2015 | 156 | 1,475 |
| 2016 | 170 | 1,382 |
| 2017 | 157 | 1,446 |
| 2018 | 149 | 1,480 |
| 2019 | 161 | 1,401 |
| 2020 | 147 | 1,466 |
| 2021 | 136 | 1,552 |
| 2022 | 119 | 1,750 |
| 2023 | 126 | 1,653 |
| 2024 | 104 | 1,922 |
| 2025 | 104 | 1,894 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 88 | 1,699 |
| 2012 | 81 | 1,830 |
| 2013 | 75 | 1,893 |
| 2014 | 113 | 1,454 |
| 2015 | 78 | 1,886 |
| 2016 | 89 | 1,751 |
| 2017 | 79 | 1,867 |
| 2018 | 93 | 1,699 |
| 2019 | 99 | 1,648 |
| 2020 | 82 | 1,825 |
| 2021 | 63 | 2,252 |
| 2022 | 65 | 2,233 |
| 2023 | 70 | 2,110 |
| 2024 | 63 | 2,282 |
| 2025 | 64 | 2,222 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |

## People named Raleigh

- John Mott, American Methodist and founder of the YMCA (1865–1955)

## 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.