How popular is the baby name Rae in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Rae.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Rae


Posts that mention the name Rae

Pop culture baby name game, 2012

Britney Spears album

Happy birthday, Britney Spears!

And you guys know what happens every year on Brit’s birthday…we kick off the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

Which baby names have become more popular in 2012, thanks to popular culture?

We won’t have definitive answers until the SSA releases its next batch of data (in mid-2013). But 2012 is almost over, so we have all the information we need to start making guesses.

Some possibilities I’ve already blogged about:

  • Anastasia, Grey – Fifty Shades of Grey
  • Arrietty – The Secret World of Arrietty
  • Avila, Hildegard – St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen
  • Azealia – Azealia Banks
  • Carly, or Carly Rae – Carly Rae Jepsen
  • Dev, Lovely – “Dev”
  • Django – Django Unchained
  • Essined, Lidislay – “Nuestra Belleza Latina”
  • Felix – daredevil Felix Baumgartner
  • Kateri – St. Kateri Tekakwitha
  • Katniss – Hunger Games
  • Lorenzo, Dominic – Snooki’s son Lorenzo Dominic
  • Merida – Brave
  • Olive – Drew Barrymore’s daughter Olive
  • Penelope – Kourtney Kardashian’s daughter Penelope
  • Renesmee – Twilight
  • Sparkle, Tika – Sparkle
  • Tennessee – Reese Witherspoon’s son Tennessee
  • Toby – “Good Luck Charlie”
  • Trayvon – Trayvon Martin

Plus a few I forgot to blog about:

  • Blue, Ivy – Beyonce and Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy, born way back in January. (Only 7 girls and 11 boys were named Blue in 2011. I have a feeling both of these numbers will be going up.)
  • Maxwell (for a girl) – Jessica Simpson’s daughter Maxwell, born in May.
  • Mitt, Romney – Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney

Want to play? Leave a comment with your name predictions and the pop culture event(s) you think gave those names a boost this year.

UPDATE, May 2013: Here are the results!

Will babies be named for Carly Rae, maybe?

By now we’ve all heard Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” (Just in case, here’s the video.)

The song has hit #1 on the pop charts in the U.S. and a number of other countries. Currently it’s the second-best selling single of 2012 after “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye.

But the pop charts don’t interest me as much as the baby name charts.

The name Carly entered the top 1,000 in 1973 thanks to another singer, Carly Simon. It peaked in the ’90s. Since then, it’s been sinking:

  • 2011: 1,264 babies named Carly
  • 2010: 1,435 babies named Carly
  • 2009: 1,506 babies named Carly
  • 2008: 1,682 babies named Carly

Based on records I’ve seen, at least a couple hundred of the babies named Carly since the ’70s were given the middle name Rae.

Do you think Carly Rae Jepsen will make the name Carly (and/or the combo Carly Rae) more popular in 2012?

Robin Williams named his baby after a video game character

Princess Zelda (in 1998)
Princess Zelda

A few months ago, Nintendo released Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, a remake of the original Ocarina of Time from 1998.

Who did they feature in the commercials for the new Ocarina? None other than Robin Williams, who named his daughter, Zelda, for Princess Zelda from the series. (Zelda Williams was in the commercial, too.)

Here are the commercials: Zelda Ad #1 and Zelda Ad #2.

Robin bought his first Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 and became “completely immersed.”

When my wife was pregnant, my son Zachary mentioned that Zelda would be the perfect name for his new little sister.

Robin and his wife agreed, so when the baby girl was born on July 31, 1989, she was named Zelda Rae.

Here’s Robin and Zelda discussing her name [another vid].

Were other parents inspired to use the name Zelda as well around this time? Perhaps a few, though the numbers stay fairly flat:

  • 1991: 22 baby girls named Zelda
  • 1990: 18 baby girls named Zelda
  • 1989: 19 baby girls named Zelda
  • 1988: 17 baby girls named Zelda
  • 1987: 12 baby girls named Zelda
  • 1986: 16 baby girls named Zelda
  • 1985: 13 baby girls named Zelda

How was Princess Zelda named? Game creator Shigeru Miyamoto explains: “Zelda was the name of the wife of the famous novelist Francis Scott Fitzgerald. She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first Zelda title.”

[On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon a few nights ago, Robin stated that his son Cody was also named for a video game character, but didn’t mention which game/character. My guess would be Cody from Final Fight.]

Sources: In the Game: Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, Ocarina of Time 3D Commercial Stars Robin Williams, Robin Williams and Daughter Pitch Video Game She Was Named After

Image: Screenshot of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

One-syllable girl names: Kate, Sage, Wren, Maeve

single tree

Looking for a girl name that’s short and to-the-point? Something that might work particularly well as a middle name?

Check out this list of several hundred one-syllable girl names:

  • Anne/Ann, Ash/Ashe, Ayn
  • Banks/Banx, Bar, Bea, Belle/Bell, Bess, Beth, Bjork, Blair/Blaire, Blaise/Blaze/Blayze/Blaize, Blake/Blayke, Blanche, Bless, Blessed, Bliss/Blyss, Bloom, Blue/Blu, Blythe, Brave, Bray, Breck, Bree/Brie, Breeze/Brees, Brett, Bright, Britt, Bronx, Bronze, Brooke/Brook, Bryce/Brice, Brynn/Bryn/Brynne/Brin/Brinn, Burke
  • Cache, Cass, Cate/Cait, Chance, Charm, Chase, Chen, Cher, Chris, Claire/Clare/Clair, Clark/Clarke, Cloud, Clove, Coast, Cove, Cree, Cruz
  • Dale, Dare, Dash, Dawn, Deah, Dee, Deem, Del/Dell, Doll, Dor, Dove, Dream, Drew/Dru
  • Earth, Elle, Eve
  • Fair/Fayre, Faith/Fayth, Fawn/Faun, Fate, Faye/Fay/Fae, Fern/Ferne, Flame, Fleur, Flor, Flynn, Fran
  • Gail/Gayle/Gale, Gal, Gay/Gaye, Gem, Gift, Gold, Grace/Grayce, Gray/Grey, Greer, Gwen, Gwyn/Gwynn/Gwynne
  • Hayes/Haze, Hayle, Heart/Hart, Hope
  • Jace/Jayce, Jade/Jayde/Jaide, Jan, Jane/Jayne, Jaye/Jae, Jazz/Jaz, Jean/Jeanne, Jem, Jen/Jenn, Jess, Jett, Jewel, Jill, Jin/Jyn, Jo, Joan, Joss, Joy/Joye/Joi/Joie, Joyce, Jude, Jules, June, Jung
  • Kai, Kate/Kayte/Kaite, Kay/Kaye/Kae, Kayce, Kayde, Kim, Klaire/Klare/Klair, Klark/Klarke, Kree, Kris, Kyle
  • Lace, Laine/Lane/Layne, Lake, Lark, Leigh/Lee, Light, Liv, Liz, Love, Lux, Luce, Luz, Lynn/Lynne/Lyn/Lin
  • Mae/May, Madge, Maeve/Maebh/Mave, Mai, March, Marge/Marj, Maude/Maud, Maze/Maize/Mayze, Mills, Mirth, Moon
  • Nash, Naz, Nelle/Nell, Neve/Niamh, Nile, Noire/Noir, Noor/Nour, North
  • Paige/Payge/Page, Pam, Pax, Paz, Peace, Peach, Pearl/Perl, Plum, Praise, Prayer, Prim, Psalm, Psalms, Prue, Pure
  • Queen, Quinn
  • Rae/Raye, Rayne/Rain/Raine/Rainn/Reign, Reece/Reese/Rhys, Reem, Reet, Reeve, Rell, Ren, Rise, Rogue, Rome, Rose, Rue, Rune, Rut, Ruth, Ryn/Rin
  • Saint, Sage/Saige/Sayge/Saje, Scout, Shane/Shayne, Shea/Shae/Shay/Shaye, Shine, Silk, Shir, Skye/Sky, Sloane/Sloan, Snow, Sol, Soul, Star/Starr, Storm, Sue/Sioux, Swan, Sway
  • Tai, Taj, Tate, Teal, Tess, Thyme, Tris, Trish, True/Tru, Trust, Truth, Tyne
  • Vail/Vale, Val, Vaughn
  • Wing, Wren/Wrenn, Wryn, Wynn/Wynne/Winn
  • Yaz, Yen
  • Zane/Zain/Zayne, Zeal, Zell, Zen

Please note that I did include names in the gray area between one syllable and two syllables. The deciding factor on these particular names will be your own interpretation/accent, so be sure to test the names out loud before making any final decisions. (“Hayle,” for instance — would you say it like Hale, or like Hailey? Or “Rise” — is it rize, or ree-sah?)

Many of these names also happen to be unisex, so they appear on the one-syllable boy names list as well.

What’s your favorite one-syllable girl name?

Image: Adapted from 1 Drvo 06241 by Olja Simovic under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: July 2023]