How Many People Are Named Rigel?
An estimated 612 people in the United States have the first name Rigel. It is predominantly male (98.4%). The average bearer is 19 years old, and Rigel peaked in popularity in 2016 with 34 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Rigel as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Rigel paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
612
About 1 in 560,056 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
98.4% confidence
Average Age
19
years old
Peak Year
2016
34 births
Total Registered
623
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Rigel
Rigel is predominantly male (98.4%), though 10 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Rigel as a male name
Ranked #6,095 in 2024
15 male births in 2024
Peak: 2016 (34 births)
Rigel as a female name
Ranked #18,562 in 2015
5 female births in 2015
Peak: 1980 (5 births)
Rigel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Rigel span from the 1970s to the 2020s, covering 6 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 219 babies were registered. While Rigel is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Rigel by Decade
How has Rigel tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Rigel by State
Rigel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Rigel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Rigel
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Rigel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rigel?
We estimate approximately 612 people named Rigel are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 560,056 Americans share this first name.
Is Rigel a common name?
Rigel is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 86.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 623 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Rigel most popular?
Rigel reached peak popularity in 2016, when 34 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Rigel is approximately 19 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Rigel a male name?
Rigel is predominantly male. 98.4% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Rigel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Rigel Smith, Rigel Johnson, Rigel Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 0 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau estimate. Full methodology.
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