Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Usual Nickname, Unexpected Name: Ray/Rae

Is it just me, or is everybody using the middle name Ray/Rae right now, for both boys and girls? Although the "cute" factor is probably a big part of it (esp. for girls!), I imagine many have to be honor names as well.
Rachel and Raymond are the usual full forms (and Ray is of course used quite often on its own), but there are a few other ways to get Ray/Rae. :)

Boys:
  • Rafe (RAYF, English)--form of Ralph
  • Rayburn (RAY-burn, English [surname])--from Old English, "deer stream". Also spelled Raeburn.
  • Rayner (RAY-ner, English)--from Germanic, "army advisor"
  • Rayson (RAY-son, English [surname])--"reason"
  • Réamann (RAY-man, Irish)--form of Raymond
  • Reidar (RAY-dar, Swedish)--from Old Norse, "home warrior". Another form is Reier (RAY-er, Swedish).
  • Reijo (RAY-yoh, Finnish)--form of Gregory
  • Reino (RAY-noh, Finnish)--form of Reynold. Other forms include Reynaldo/Reinaldo (ray-NAHL-doh, Spanish, Portuguese) and Reynaud (ray-NOH, French)
  • Rémi (ray-MEE, French)--also spelled Rémy
  • Reynir (RAY-neer, Icelandic)--"rowan tree"

Girls:
  • Areia (ah-RAY-ah, [ancient] Greek)--poss. "prayer", or from the god Ares
  • Dareia (dah-RAY-ah, [ancient] Greek)--feminine of Darius
  • Mireille (mee-RAY, French)--from Occitan "admire". Other forms include Mirèio (mee-REH-oh, Occitan), Mireia (mee-RAY-ah, Catalan, Spanish), and Mireya (mee-RAY-ah, Spanish).
  • Nereida (neh-RAY-dah, Spanish)--from Ancient Greek, "of Nereus"
  • Rayhana (ray-HAH-nah, Arabic)--"basil". Turkish form is Reyhan (ray-HAHN). 
  • Raymonde (ray-MAWND, French)--feminine of Raymond
  • Rayna (RAY-nah, English)--Anglicized from Spanish Reina, "queen", or Yiddish Reina, "pure"
  • Régine (ray-ZHEEN, French)--form of Regina
  • Reida (RAY-dah, Swedish)--from Old Norse, "home"
  • Reija (RAY-yah, Finnish)--feminine of Reijo/Gregory
  • Reynalda (ray-NAHL-dah, Spanish)--feminine of Reynaldo
  • Reynilda (ray-NIL-dah, [medieval] English)--from Old Norse, "battle advisor"
  • Rheia (RAY-ah, [ancient] Greek)--prob. "flow"

Unisex:
  • Rayan (ray-AN, Arabic)--also spelled Rayyan
  • Raven (RAY-ven, English)
  • Reagan (RAY-gen, English)--Anglicized from Irish surname Ó Riagáin, poss. "king" or "impulsive"
  • Wray (RAY, English [surname])--from Old Norse, "nook"

1 comment:

  1. The popularity might be due to StarWars? After seeing The Force Awakens in December 2015 I suddenly loved the sound of Rey/Rae/Ray as well...

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