Recorded 1896–2025 · United States
Rayford was most popular in 1937, when 124 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,088 that year. In 2025 it ranked #24,763, with 5 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 5,516 people named Rayford.
Rayford first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1896, which makes it about 129 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 115 of the 130 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 5,516 American births named Rayford between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 2,531 are estimated to be alive today.
5 American babies were named Rayford in 2025, ranking #24,763 that year.
Rayford is too rare for a direction to mean much. It averaged 6 births a year across 2021–2025 against 6 a year a decade earlier — at these counts a single baby moves the percentage, and any year under five births is withheld at source.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Rayford is a boy’s name — 0.0% of the 5,516 Americans given it were girls and 100.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 2,531 Americans named Rayford are alive today — 46% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 65 years old, and half are between 52 and 76.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Rayford on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org