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Rio

Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese
"river; place of the cherry blossoms"
Madison Dresler
By Madison Dresler
Updated Tue Sep 30 2025

Rio Origin and Meaning

The name Rio is a boy's name of Spanish origin meaning "river; place of the cherry blossoms".

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.

# 516 in the US

Rio Rank in US Top 1000

# 470 on Nameberry

Rio Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Rio

20 Names Similar to Rio

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Rio.

Famous People Named Rio

  • 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)

The name 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"

The name Rio in Nameberry Blog Posts