Rio
Top 1000
About Rio
Rio is a reductive ranchero place-name with an attractive Tex-Mex lilt. No Doubt's Tom Dumont has a son named Rio Atticus.
Also a South American place name, and associated with the Rio Grande, it's been used as a swaggering cowboy name in films spanning from a William S. Hart character in 1915 to Marlon Brando's in One-Eyed Jacks. Adding to its international credibility, Rio is also a Japanese name meaning "place of the cherry blossoms".
Rio is gender neutral, given to about 500 baby boys versus 100 baby girls. It's noted as a girl's name in the catchy Duran Duran song.
As of October 2026, Rio ranked #532 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #516 in 2024, Nameberry popularity #218.
Editor's take: The name Rio is a boy's name of Spanish origin meaning "river; place of the cherry blossoms".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,547 | 104 | 54.1 |
| 2015 | #1,577 | 103 | 53.7 |
| 2016 | #1,327 | 135 | 71.1 |
| 2017 | #1,357 | 132 | 71.3 |
| 2018 | #1,125 | 172 | 94.7 |
| 2019 | #1,061 | 193 | 107.6 |
| 2020 | #774 | 305 | 176.7 |
| 2021 | #673 | 401 | 229.2 |
| 2022 | #560 | 530 | 303.5 |
| 2023 | #570 | 514 | 300.5 |
| 2024 | #516 | 591 | 343 |
| 2025 | #532 | 563 | 329.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Rio.
Famous Rios
- Rio Gavin Ferdinand
English footballer
- Rio Joseph Grillo (b. 2008)
son of Wendy Moniz & Frank Grillo
- Rio Atticus Dumont (b. 2008)
son of musician Tom Dumont
- Rocco Rio Reynolds (b. 2010)
son of Jillian Barberie
- Rio
nickname of actor River Phoenix
- Rio Lopes (b. 2020)
son of Portuguese football player Eder Lopes and Belgium model Sanna Lopes (Ladera)
Rio in pop culture
- Rio de Janeiro
city in Brazil
- Rio
pseudonym of Anibal Cortes, one of the main characters in series “Money Heist”
- Rio
Jerrica/Jem's boyfriend on animated series "Jem & the Holograms"
- Rio
2011 animated film about parrots set in Rio de Janeiro
- Rio Wellard
character in book/TV series 'The Story of Tracy Beaker'
- Rio
Portuguese word for "River"