Raito (らいと)

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: rah-ee-to [ɾá.ì.tò̞]


Etymology and/or ways to write:
Normally, this name follows a rai+to kanji combination, some of the kanji used shown in the table below:

rai (らい) to (と)
// “arrival” “the Dipper”
“request, favour; trust” / “fly, soar”
“gratitude; manners; gift” “person”
“bud” “grant, answer”
“lightning, thunder” “sound”
“lovely, beautiful” “metropolis”
/ “goosefoot” “big, large”
“good” 偉 “greatness” “tiger”
“thin silk, gauze” “shrine grove”
part of 采配 (saihai) “order, command”
“heart, mind”
“gate”

You may notice that Raito also transcribes to the English word light. It is indeed the case that, sometimes (especially among babies born from the Heisei period (1989-2019) onwards), kanji either related to the word or otherwise used for image conjuring are used, like 光 meaning “light; ray, beam, glow,” 月 meaning “moon,” 輝 meaning “brightness, brilliance” and 煌 meaning “glitter, sparkle.” While single kanji are used for this name, they are more likely to be combined with a to kanji or another kanji with some sort of connection to light, examples of the latter being 煌月, 輝星 and 月輝.

Popularity:
In use since at least the 1920s, much of its usage is concentrated on those born in the Heisei period onwards. In 1990, it was only given to around 0.005% of boys, remaining stable until the late 1990s when it began to rise in usage. By the late 2000s, well over 0.12% of boys received this name.
Based on my 2014-20 names research, by 2014, it already ranked in the top 100 with 0.253% of boys receiving this name and peaking at 0.332% and ranking 74th in 2015. By 2020, it fell to around 0.104%, just above the top 200 threshold (when combined with Baby Calendar rankings data, the 2020 percentage increased to just below 0.12%).

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