girl's name
Raven
RAY-vun
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 52,601
the United States
#404
2025 births
Raven means the bird, and the bird was a war omen before it was a goth accessory — Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry lists the raven with the wolf and the eagle as the beasts that follow an army.
- Raven is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1993, when 2,394 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,078 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1921.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Raven over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1920s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1920s | 5 |
| 1930s | 5 |
| 1940s | 105 |
| 1950s | 117 |
| 1960s | 223 |
| 1970s | 1,322 |
| 1980s | 4,162 |
| 1990s | 19,631 |
| 2000s | 11,054 |
| 2010s | 6,621 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,008 |
What Raven means
Raven means the bird. It names the animal directly, so any sense of darkness or mystery is an association carried by the creature rather than by the word.
Where Raven comes from
Raven is the Old English hræfn, the bird, from a Germanic root imitating its call. In Old English and Norse poetry the raven is one of the beasts of battle, listed with the wolf and the eagle as the creatures that gather where men will die; Odin's two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, bring him news of the world. Its use as a given name is modern American and predominantly female.
Raven in use
Raven peaked in the United States in 1993, when 2,394 babies were registered, and our data marks it rising. It now ranks 404th in the United States on 813 births, 450th in England and Wales on 108, 471st in Scotland on 7, 860th in Ireland on 4 and 1767th in France on 30, across 52,601 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track. About 93 percent of recorded births are female.
How popular is Raven?
In 2025, Raven was given to 813 babies in the United States, ranking #404 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Raven is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Raven
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Raven also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Raven over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Raven in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Raven
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Raven — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Raven
What does the name Raven mean?
The bird — the Old English hræfn, from a root imitating its call.
What are the beasts of battle?
The raven, wolf and eagle, listed in Old English and Norse verse as gathering where men will die.
Who were Huginn and Muninn?
Odin's two ravens, who brought him news of the world.
Is Raven rising?
Our data marks it rising, and it charts in five of our six markets.
How popular is the name Raven?
In 2025, Raven was given to 813 babies in the United States, ranking #404 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Raven a girl's or a boy's name?
Raven is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Raven?
Raven has 2 syllables.
When was Raven most popular?
Raven peaked in 1993, when 2,394 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Raven a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Raven currently ranks #404 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.