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I've known two men named Raleigh. In both cases this was decades ago. I thought the name was very nice. Unusual but very appealing.

Prefer Walter.

It sounds okay, but I don't find it enjoyable out of a surname context. It's a bit childish, for lack of a better word. I'm sure I'd grow to find it endearing if I knew someone by the name, but it just doesn't do anything for me. Very casual. I see it on a boy rather than a girl. I feel like I've met a million Raleighs even if I've only encountered one to none. That probably has to do with the inundation of similar names; lots of Rileys of various spellings, lots of -leighs, lots of surnames-to-first names, etc. Rawly is almost preferable and cute -- more as a nickname.

I actually like the look of this name but (and this probably isn't very helpful) it's impossible to pronounce with my Aussie accent. I actually know a female Raleigh from the US who lives here and just gets called Riley cos we just can't say it =P

It reminds me of Sir Walter Raleigh and I kinda like it. I’d probably keep it in the middle, but it has an air of adventure and history to it, which I like.

I really like it for a boy, am not a fan of it on a girl. Today I’d imagine it’s more common on girls because of the popular -leigh ending, but I still see it as masculine.

Sir Walter Raleigh. A name to evoke nobility, conquest, intrigue. A British Empire name.
A common surname and the capital of NC, so also familiar, and not so stuffy.
Rawly ... I think it has the right sort of "dash" in the sound, to be fashionable.
NMSAA. I'd just get used to it, if I knew a guy named Raleigh. It's not very interesting to me personally.
Btw, I just read that Sir Walter Raleigh had sons named Carew and Damerei (after ancestors' surnames).

This message was edited 6/5/2018, 11:55 AM

Nope. "-leigh" is ugly and it doesn't even lok like "lee", it looks like "ley". Raleigh is either the city or it sounds like Riley with a southern drawl IMO.

I knew a Raleigh in high school and his name was constantly mispronounced (raw-lay, ray-lee, or like the word rally) or mistaken for a misspelling of Riley. I'm not fond of it, personally.

This message was edited 6/5/2018, 10:08 AM