The baby name Raven blends nature name energy with a dark-haired, literary vibe.
Thanks to Melanie for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME RAVEN MEAN?
Raven refers to a bird, the kind that we can all picture. It’s a glossy, black-feathered loudmouth, known for an unusual combination of wisdom and menace.
In Old English, the word was raefen; an older German version was hraban. The Greeks called them korax, while Latin speakers opted for corvus, so this is a purely Germanic/English word.
In practice, we’ve mixed up crows and ravens over the years, so folklore gets a bit tangled, too. A few themes emerge:
- They’re often messenger birds. In some cases they were used like Noah’s dove, sent from ships to look for evidence of dry land.
- In the Quran, a raven features in the Cain and Abel story.
- Several Christian saints are associated with ravens in a positive light. It’s said that Saint Benedict befriended a raven who later saved him from eating poisoned bread.
- In Norse mythology, a pair of ravens served as spies for the god Odin. Their names translate to something like thought and mind or mind and will.
- A number of indigenous peoples in North America also include the bird in their folklore, like the Tahltan people’s creation story.
- If you’ve been to the Tower of London, you might know that the resident ravens play a central role. If they desert the Tower, legend holds, the kingdom will fall.
So the stories mix loyalty and intelligence and a certain shadowy image. Accordingly, we might call a group of ravens a conspiracy, a treachery, or even an unkindness. But the most common term in the 21st century? Probably just a flock.
SURNAME NAME
Raven became a surname and nickname long before it entered our list of potential baby names.
It might’ve been given to someone with dark hair, just like the bird’s feathers. Or possibly inspiration came from an inn bearing the sign of the raven.
LITERARY RAVEN
21st century parents might first think of a poem.
Edgar Allan Poe published “The Raven” in 1845. His bird famously repeats a single word: Nevermore.
For what it’s worth, the birds can learn real words. It’s part mimicry, but also, like parrots, they do seem to understand language.
In Poe’s literary lament, the narrator has just lost his beloved Lenore. The raven seems to mock him, telling him that he’ll be reunited with Lenore “nevermore.”
The poem was a smash hit in the 19th century, and earned the author the nickname “The Raven.” Years later, it inspired the name of Baltimore’s NFL team, the Ravens, since Poe lived in the city and is buried at Westminster Hall, formerly a Presbyterian church.
COMIC BOOK RAVEN
Plenty of animal names have been borrowed for superheroes.
DC Comics gave us Rachel Roth, also known as Raven in 1980. She became part of the Teen Titans group. While she’s not Harley Quinn or Wonder Woman, Raven has featured in more than one animated series and also appeared in the 2018-2023 live action series Titans. Teagan Croft played the character for four seasons in that last series.
RAVEN AS A GIVEN NAME
How did Raven go from folk tales and superheroes to given name status?
Nancy’s Baby Names points to a character from a 1940s comic strip, followed by a 1970s-era soap opera character on The Edge of Night.
That tracks with the popularity data, but there’s one figure who gets most of the credit: actressRaven-Symoné.
She got her start as a child actress in the 1990s on sitcoms The Cosby Show and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper.
But then came That’s So Raven.
The Disney Channel series ran from 2003 to 2007. The actress played a character named Raven Baxter. The hook? Baxter could see the future. Sort of. Her visions weren’t always specific, and her attempts to intervene often went wrong.
The show blended humor with serious issues, and showed Raven and her friends navigating thorny situations. We loved her for her loyalty, determination, and her impeccable fashion sense, a skill that helped her develop elaborate costumes to aid her attempts to intervene.
Incidentally, the character was first named Dawn, then Rose. Only after Raven-Symoné’s casting did she become Raven and the show’s title changed accordingly. She’s also a singer, who contributed songs to the television series, as well as original recordings.
While her career has spanned decades, including Emmy nominations and plenty of other awards, she remains best-known as the psychic Raven Baxter. A reboot of the series, titled Raven’s Home, ran from 2017 to 2023. They discover that her teenage son, Booker, has inherited some of her powers.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME RAVEN?
As of 2025, the baby name Raven stands at #404 in the US.
That’s down a bit from peak usage earlier in the 2000s. Raven hit #139 back in 1993, just the actress was completing her run as Olivia on The Cosby Show. The name remained in the Top 200 for most of the 1990s.
It initially fell in use, but rebounded thanks to our love of nature names in general, and bird names especially. Another factor? That middle V, just like more traditional Evelyn and Ava.
ESTABLISHED NATURE NAME WITH AN EDGE
Many nature names feel gentle, like Flora or Dove. A few suggest challenges, like Everest or Rocky. Raven hits a different note. There’s an edginess to this name, courtesy of all the legend and lore around the birds.
It fits with so many names we love right now, but offers something a little mysterious and beguiling, too. That extra hint of intrigue might make it the perfect name for parents who are drawn to perfectly mainstream names with a hint of dark romance about them.
What do you think of the baby name Raven?
