Riley
English, Irish
"rye clearing; courageous"Riley Origin and Meaning
The name Riley is both a boy's name and a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "rye clearing; courageous".
Riley originated as both an English and an Irish surname. The former was derived from British place names that got their names from the Old English words for "rye clearing." Irish Riley is a variation of Reilly, a surname taken from the given name Raghailleach.
Riley—an upbeat, friendly surname name—is red hot for girls and still going strong for boys. If you haven't been spending much time around babies recently, you may be surprised to learn that Riley is the most popular girls' name starting with R. Rylee, Ryleigh, and other variations are also quite popular, along with the traditional Reilly. Riley is one of the most popular contemporary unisex baby names.
Newsperson Norah O'Donnell has a daughter named Riley Norah.
Riley—an upbeat, friendly surname name—is red hot for girls and still going strong for boys. If you haven't been spending much time around babies recently, you may be surprised to learn that Riley is the most popular girls' name starting with R. Rylee, Ryleigh, and other variations are also quite popular, along with the traditional Reilly. Riley is one of the most popular contemporary unisex baby names.
Newsperson Norah O'Donnell has a daughter named Riley Norah.
# 37 in the US
Riley Rank in US Top 1000
Riley Popularity
- 37US2021
- 256Nameberry2022
- 3Unisex2021
- 38Future2028
- 231England2020
- 86Australia2021
- 29New Zealand2021
- 35Dogs2021
20 Names Similar to Riley
These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Riley.
- Riley
- Avery
- Peyton
- Harper
- Blake
- Parker
- Hailey
- Taylor
- Quinn
- Sawyer
- Addison
- Madison
- Sydney
- Reagan
- Kennedy
- Piper
- Rowan
- Bailey
- Rory
- Ellie
Lists containing Riley
- Baby Names So Far In They're Out
- Baby Names So Far In They're Out
- Best Two Syllable Names
- Hot Celebrity Baby Names
- Irish Names for Dogs
- Top Baby Names for Girls
- Baby Names Ending in Ley
- Baby Names So Far In They're Out
- Top Girl Names 2021
- Top Unisex Names On Nameberry
- March Baby Names
- Magic Names
- Toddlers & Tiaras Baby Names
- Two-Syllable Girl Names
- Surnames That Are Baby Names
- Irish Surnames as Baby Names
- Unisex Names for Girls
- Unisex Irish Names
- Nonbinary Names for Dogs
- Top Unisex Baby Names
- Popular Irish Baby Names
- Best Irish Girl Names
- Last Names as First Names
- American Last Names
- Best Irish Girl Names
- Baby Girl Names Ending in Y
Famous People Named Riley
- (Danielle) Riley KeoughAmerican actress/model, daughter of Lisa Marie Presley; granddaughter of Elvis Presley
- Riley Elizabeth WestonAmerican actress
- Riley ReidAmerican adult film actress
- Riley DeLuise (b. 1993)daughter of actor David DeLuise; granddaughter of actor Dom DeLuise
- Riley Shannon McCusker (b. 2001)American gymnast
- Riley Burruss (b. 2002)daughter of reality TV personality Kandi Burruss of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"
- Riley Claire Bryggman (b. 2003)daughter of actor Larry Bryggman
- Riley Rose Campbell (b. 2004)daughter of actors Alan Campbell and Lauren Kennedy
- Coco Riley Arquette (b. 2004)daughter of actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette
- Riley Collins (b. 2005)daughter of NFL player Kerry Collins
- Riley Dylan Sullivan (b. 2007)daughter of baseball player Cory Sullivan
- Riley Norah Tracy (b. 2008)daughter of TV journalist Norah O'Donnell and chef Geoff Tracy
- Hania Riley Sinclair (b. 2008)daughter of actor Vin Diesel and model Paloma Jimenez
- Riley Maddox Blais (b. 2008)daughter of Richard Blais of "Top Chef"
- Riley Elizabeth Dempster (b. 2009)daughter of baseball player Ryan Dempster
- Riley Barber (b. 2010)daughter of NFL player Tiki Barber; twin of Ella Barber
- Riley Elizabeth Curry (b. 2012)daughter of basketball player Stephen Curry
- Riley Grace Vilasuso (b. 2012)daughter of actor Jordi Vilasuso
- Riley Anne Mesnick (b. 2013)daughter of reality TV personalities Jason and Molly Mesnick of "The Bachelor/ette"
- Riley Paige Busby (b.2015)one of the Busby Quints on TV's "Outdaughtered"
Riley in Pop Culture
- Rileycharacter in "Moving in"
- RileyBritish motor car
- Riley Daringmain character on TV's "The Replacements"
- Riley Lawrencecharacter in film "Winning London"
- Riley Carlsoncharacter on TV's "So Little Time"
- Riley Parksmain character on TV's "The Client List"
- Riley Matthewsdaughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews on "Girl Meets World"
- Riley Perrincharacter on TV's "Baby Daddy"
- Riley Bluecharacter on the Netflix show "Sense8"
- Riley Andersencharacter in Disney Pixar's "Inside Out"
- Riley GrandyGwen's daughter on TV's "The Mindy Project"
- Riley Marraa character on MTV's "Scream"
- Rileycharacter on TV's 'The Next Step'
- Riley Davischaracter on TV's "MacGyver"