Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic Raginmund or Reginmund. "Ragin" (Old German) and "regin" (Gothic) meant "counsel." The Old High German "mund" originally meant "hand," but came to mean "protection." This etymology suggests that the name originated in the Early Middle Ages.
Despite the German and French origins of the English name, some of its early uses in English documents appear in Latinized form. As a surname, its first recorded appearance in Britain appeared in 1086, during the reign of William the Conqueror, in the Domesday Book, with a reference to Giraldus Reimundus.
The most commonly used names for baby boys based on "ragin" in 2009 were, in descending order, Raymond, Ramiro, Rayner, Rein, Reingard, Reynard, and Reynold. Its many other variants include Raiment, Raimo, Raimond, Raimondi, Raimondo, Raimund, Raimundo, Ramon, Ramón, Ramond, Ramondelli, Ramondenc, Ramondi, Ramondini, Ramondino, Ramondo, Ramondou, Ramonenc, Ramonic, Ramundi, Rayment, Raymonenc, Raymonencq, Raymont, Raymund, Redmond, Redmonds, Reim, Reimund, Reinmund, Rémon, Rémond, Remondeau, Remondon, Rémont, Reymond, Rimondi, and Rimondini.