MEANING & HISTORY
What does Raven mean?
Raven is an English word-name taken from the bird. The word continues Old English hræfn, giving the name a clear vocabulary origin.
Stories and symbols involving ravens can create further associations, but they are not additional literal root meanings and vary across cultures. The personal name uses an ordinary bird word rather than a shortened ancient compound. It can therefore be explained without assigning a single universal mythological identity to its bearer.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
A unisex given name.; A female given name from English, usually for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s.; A male given name.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Raven
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Raven Villanueva
Filipino actress
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
1
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Raven Villanueva
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Raven in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Raven
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Beven·As a Dutch word: to tremble or shake
- Heaven♀Heaven; English word-name
- Joven·As a Spanish word: young
- Rae♂♀Short Rachel; also a feminine Ray
- Rael♂Shortened Israel in the Cebuano account
- Ramon♂Ramón/Raymond family: counsel + protection
- Ramón♂Counsel and protection
- Seven·The number seven
What rhymes with Raven?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Raven further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q14197666 — Raven (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Raven Villanueva (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q14197666 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Raven (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Raven (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.