Rayford
Rayford was given to 5 boys in 2025, #13,442 among boys’ names; 5,516 Americans have been recorded with it since 1896 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,420 Americans named Rayford and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (44% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 51 and 75.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Rayford by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Rayford?
#13,442 among boys’ names, 2025
Rayford entered the boys’ rankings after 2015 and stood at #13,442 in 2025.
124 babies in 1937, the peak
Rayford peaked in 1937, when 124 boys were given it, #518 among boys’ names. The 5 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #13,442 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 6 | #11,933 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 6 | #11,814 | under 0.01 |
| 2017 | 6 | #11,879 | under 0.01 |
| 2014 | 7 | #10,470 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 6 | #11,828 | under 0.01 |
| 2012 | 5 | #13,757 | under 0.01 |
| 2011 | 5 | #13,862 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 6 | #11,856 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 10 | #8,150 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (115)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 6 | #12,030 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 7 | #10,398 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 11 | #6,998 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 10 | #7,392 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 12 | #5,987 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 14 | #5,334 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 6 | #10,043 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 11 | #5,952 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 10 | #6,185 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 10 | #5,991 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 12 | #5,109 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 7 | #7,606 | under 0.01 |
| 1994 | 11 | #5,372 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 8 | #6,682 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 17 | #3,705 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 23 | #2,890 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 22 | #2,934 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 20 | #3,060 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 21 | #2,744 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 22 | #2,531 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 26 | #2,210 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 18 | #2,797 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 31 | #1,831 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 22 | #2,322 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 34 | #1,727 | 0.02 |
| 1981 | 30 | #1,890 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 24 | #2,204 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 35 | #1,661 | 0.02 |
| 1978 | 29 | #1,824 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 31 | #1,734 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 23 | #2,096 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 36 | #1,496 | 0.02 |
| 1974 | 35 | #1,496 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 24 | #1,863 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 43 | #1,283 | 0.03 |
| 1971 | 52 | #1,144 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 40 | #1,330 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 50 | #1,105 | 0.03 |
| 1968 | 58 | #966 | 0.03 |
| 1967 | 71 | #855 | 0.04 |
| 1966 | 57 | #965 | 0.03 |
| 1965 | 56 | #993 | 0.03 |
| 1964 | 64 | #954 | 0.03 |
| 1963 | 61 | #969 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 79 | #851 | 0.04 |
| 1961 | 69 | #922 | 0.03 |
| 1960 | 76 | #874 | 0.04 |
| 1959 | 56 | #1,031 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 83 | #826 | 0.04 |
| 1957 | 82 | #838 | 0.04 |
| 1956 | 93 | #768 | 0.04 |
| 1955 | 89 | #776 | 0.04 |
| 1954 | 96 | #737 | 0.05 |
| 1953 | 87 | #763 | 0.04 |
| 1952 | 111 | #658 | 0.06 |
| 1951 | 96 | #709 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 99 | #688 | 0.06 |
| 1949 | 90 | #725 | 0.05 |
| 1948 | 91 | #701 | 0.05 |
| 1947 | 105 | #676 | 0.06 |
| 1946 | 99 | #651 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 77 | #697 | 0.06 |
| 1944 | 111 | #584 | 0.08 |
| 1943 | 103 | #627 | 0.07 |
| 1942 | 92 | #676 | 0.07 |
| 1941 | 84 | #669 | 0.07 |
| 1940 | 96 | #606 | 0.08 |
| 1939 | 88 | #627 | 0.08 |
| 1938 | 101 | #585 | 0.09 |
| 1937 | 124 | #518 | 0.12 |
| 1936 | 82 | #642 | 0.08 |
| 1935 | 91 | #615 | 0.09 |
| 1934 | 93 | #622 | 0.09 |
| 1933 | 78 | #666 | 0.08 |
| 1932 | 96 | #604 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 80 | #671 | 0.08 |
| 1930 | 90 | #652 | 0.08 |
| 1929 | 90 | #653 | 0.08 |
| 1928 | 95 | #641 | 0.09 |
| 1927 | 92 | #666 | 0.08 |
| 1926 | 83 | #697 | 0.07 |
| 1925 | 98 | #643 | 0.09 |
| 1924 | 81 | #742 | 0.07 |
| 1923 | 78 | #743 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 80 | #740 | 0.07 |
| 1921 | 71 | #811 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 73 | #780 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 79 | #714 | 0.08 |
| 1918 | 60 | #854 | 0.06 |
| 1917 | 50 | #905 | 0.05 |
| 1916 | 27 | #1,327 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 44 | #950 | 0.05 |
| 1914 | 29 | #1,071 | 0.04 |
| 1913 | 28 | #947 | 0.05 |
| 1912 | 23 | #962 | 0.05 |
| 1911 | 13 | #968 | 0.06 |
| 1910 | 7 | #1,397 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 13 | #831 | 0.08 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,341 | 0.04 |
| 1907 | 8 | #1,071 | 0.05 |
| 1906 | 5 | #1,379 | 0.04 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,269 | 0.04 |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,176 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 6 | #1,278 | 0.04 |
| 1896 | 8 | #881 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Rayford a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Rayford has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 115 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Rayford: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Rayford, and how old are they?
2,420 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 44% of the 5,516 Americans ever recorded as Rayford. The median Rayford alive today is 65 years old; half are between 51 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 2,268 people named Rayford (13 women and girls, 2,255 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,865 born in the U.S. The Census count is 21% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 327 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,050 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 580 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 306 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 121 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 36 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Rayford born?
The states with the most babies named Rayford are Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, with 59% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Alabama and Mississippi are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 870 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Alabama | 729 | not ranked | 5.7× |
| Mississippi | 439 | not ranked | 4.6× |
| North Carolina | 436 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Georgia | 408 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| South Carolina | 220 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Louisiana | 211 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Tennessee | 47 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Oklahoma | 37 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| California | 31 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Rayford is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Rayford is most over-represented in Alabama: since 1910 it was given 5.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Rayford with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 6,893 babies since 1880, Rayford is the most given (80% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Rayford
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Rayford and names like it
- Compare Rayford and RaefordBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sRayford peaked in 1937.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Rayford since 1910.
- The top names of 1937The year the most babies were named Rayford.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Rayford alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with RMost given first.