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ArchivesRe: Raelyn and Rae?
in reply to a message by Phantom of the Opera
A good place to look for this kind of information is the US Social Security Administration's "Beyond the top 1000 Names" page (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/limits.html). Their data begins in 1880. Since your story takes place in 1890, I assume the character would have been born before that, but looking at 1880 should at least give the right idea.
The name "Rae" appears 10 times in the 1880 data. So it was a very rare name, but it existed. "Raelyn" does not appear. The girl's names ending with -lyn are Evelyn/Evalyn, Carolyn, Ethelyn, and Gwendolyn.
The first time I find "Raelyn" in the data is 1949, and it first appeared in the top 1000 in 2009. So I think it's safe to say that the name Raelyn would be anachronistic for 1890 and would detract from the historical realism of your story. Why not browse through the top 1000 (or beyond) for your time period and see if you can find another name you like that would have been more probable?
The name "Rae" appears 10 times in the 1880 data. So it was a very rare name, but it existed. "Raelyn" does not appear. The girl's names ending with -lyn are Evelyn/Evalyn, Carolyn, Ethelyn, and Gwendolyn.
The first time I find "Raelyn" in the data is 1949, and it first appeared in the top 1000 in 2009. So I think it's safe to say that the name Raelyn would be anachronistic for 1890 and would detract from the historical realism of your story. Why not browse through the top 1000 (or beyond) for your time period and see if you can find another name you like that would have been more probable?
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