Rayleigh is a modern American spelling that blends the sounds of Raelynn and Rylee with the fashionable ending -leigh. It is also an old English place name from Essex, usually explained as "roe deer clearing", and the title of the physicist Lord Rayleigh, who explained why the sky is blue. As a girls' name Rayleigh has stayed outside the US top 1000, peaking at number 1236 in 2018 and ranking 1451 in 2025.