Raven

Where Raven comes from

The dictionaries list Raven as a given name — a female given name from English, usually for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • English
Along the way
  1. 1941
    First appearance
    #3,954 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1974
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1992
    Raven Goodwin born
    American actress
  4. 1993
    Peak, #139
    2,285 babies named Raven — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1996
    Raven Saunders born
    American shot putter
  6. 2005
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #348.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from English, usually for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s.
  • A male given name.
  • A place name:
  • A community in Red Deer County, Alberta, Canada, possibly named after the Raven River.
  • A number of places in the United States:
  • An unincorporated community in Knott County, Kentucky.
Namesakes
  • Raven Saunders · American shot putter, born 1996
  • Raven Goodwin · American actress, born 1992
  • Raven Klaasen · South African tennis player, born 1982
  • Raven Alexis · American pornographic actress, 1987–2022
  • Raven De La Croix · American actress, born 1947

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.