Rae is a short form of Rachel, the Hebrew name meaning "ewe", and also serves as a feminine spelling of Ray. For decades it was mostly a middle name, but in the current fashion for short, bright names like Mae and Wren it has stepped out on its own. Rae stood at number 2169 in 2000, jumped into the 1200s in 2016, reached number 1048 in 2021 and ranks number 1306 in 2025.