BabyNameScore

Raymond

RAY·mund · 2 syllables

Raymond feels distinctive without creating everyday friction in daily use.

91/100

Strong Practical Fit

Balanced across pronunciation, everyday use, lifetime fit and international use.

Name Profile

  1. Pronunciation & Spelling

    Effortless

    A documented English pronunciation is on file: RAY-mund.

    91/100

  2. Everyday Use

    Low risk

    Shortens naturally in everyday use, to one established short form.

    95/100

  3. Growing Up

    Strong lifetime fit

    Works comfortably across child and adult settings.

    82/100

  4. International Use

    Broad international fit

    Works cleanly across the assessed languages and writing systems.

    85/100

NAME DETAILS

COMMON FORMS
Ray
CLOSE SPELLINGS
Raymund
OTHER-LANGUAGE FORMS
Ramon
Raimund
Raimondo
ORIGIN & HISTORY

About the name

Wise/counsel protection — from Germanic elements meaning 'advice, counsel, decision' and 'protection.'

  1. Raginmund — Germanic. The Normans introduced this name to England in the form Reimund; it gained further prominence through medieval saints including Saint Raymond Nonnatus (patron of midwives) and Saint Raymond of Peñafort (patron of canonists/canon lawyers).
  2. Mythological and religious contextSaint Raymond Nonnatus, patron saint of midwives, and Saint Raymond of Peñafort, patron saint of canonists and canon lawyers, are both medieval Catholic saints who helped popularize the name throughout Christian Europe.
POPULARITY

Raymond over time

United States
#395RANK

Rank #395 gives national context, not a classroom forecast.

Uncommon in current U.S. usage. Ranked #395 in the U.S., 2025.

SourceU.S. Social Security Administration · 2025 release

Pronunciation & Forms

SAY IT

RAY·mund

STRESS ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE

COMMON FORMS
  • Ray
CLOSE SPELLINGS
  • Raymund
OTHER-LANGUAGE FORMS
  • RamonES
  • RaimundDE
  • RaimondoIT
  • RedmondIrish anglicization
PRACTICAL LIFE

How This Name Lives

AT SCHOOL & DAY TO DAY

Familiar and easy for a child to say, with the well-established short form 'Ray' offering a friendlier everyday alternative.

INTO ADULTHOOD

A classic, dependable name that reads as solid and formal in adult professional contexts, with a long history of steady use across English- and French-speaking countries.

Cultural Footprint

Raymond was introduced to England by the Normans (as Reimund) and gained further religious weight through medieval saints, becoming a well-established classic name across English and French-speaking cultures for centuries.

TRACEABLE ORIGIN
  1. Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)American-British novelist, founder of the hardboiled detective genre, creator of Philip Marlowe
  2. Saint Raymond Nonnatusmedieval patron saint of midwives
  3. Saint Raymond of Peñafortmedieval patron saint of canonists

Community Impressions

Raymond reads as a solid, classic, and dependable name with deep medieval religious and Norman-English history, while also carrying real 20th-century literary cachet through Raymond Chandler's foundational role in hardboiled detective fiction.

How this name is commonly received · not used in the score

More about Raymond

FORMALITY

'Raymond' functions as the full formal form, while 'Ray' is a widely recognized, well-established casual short form.

Names around it

Ramon
EDITORIAL SYNTHESIS

The Decision

Raymond is spelled without unusual letter patterns, and it holds up in everyday use. Surname-dependent compatibility remains unassessed until a surname is added.

STRENGTH

A documented English pronunciation is on file. Uses standard characters that systems widely handle cleanly.

BEST FIT

Everyday Use is the strongest-scoring part of this name — no obvious nickname traps, rhymes, or initial issues detected.

FULL-NAME CHECK

See how it works with a surname.

Raymond