Riley
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Riley
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 and also the Number 1 Irish name for girls in the US.
Riley for girls#48 US
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.
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, ALWAYS ranking in the Top 1000 for boys but now more popular for girls.
Newsperson Norah O'Donnell has a daughter named Riley Norah.
Riley for boys#208 US
Riley -- one of the most popular unisex names -- is trendier now for girls though for boys it's a classic, ALWAYS ranking in the US Top 1000.
In fact, after a decade of softening, Riley has recently taken a turn upward for boys, along with a lot of other gender-neutral names. These days, parents are embracing unisex names even more enthusiastically for their sons than for their daughters.
Riley ranks in the Top 100 for boys throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, though interestingly not in its native Ireland. In the US, Riley is the most popular Irish name for girls.
There are lots of athletes and other notable real-life namesakes for a boy named Riley, as well as fictional ones in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight: Eclipse. And Riley can easily be shortened for a boy to Ry or Lee.
Pronounced RY-lee.
As of October 2026, Riley ranked #48 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #22 in 2016, Nameberry popularity #62.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #47 | 4,798 | #174 | 2,446 |
| 2015 | #35 | 5,738 | #195 | 2,093 |
| 2016 | #22 | 7,159 | #224 | 1,728 |
| 2017 | #25 | 6,366 | #252 | 1,471 |
| 2018 | #28 | 6,009 | #250 | 1,470 |
| 2019 | #30 | 5,710 | #263 | 1,373 |
| 2020 | #33 | 5,338 | #257 | 1,368 |
| 2021 | #37 | 5,219 | #246 | 1,448 |
| 2022 | #39 | 4,906 | #226 | 1,599 |
| 2023 | #43 | 4,637 | #223 | 1,631 |
| 2024 | #42 | 4,644 | #229 | 1,567 |
| 2025 | #48 | 4,441 | #208 | 1,666 |
World rankings
Riley for girls
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Riley.
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Riley on lists
Famous Rileys
- (Danielle) Riley KeoughGirl
American actress/model, daughter of Lisa Marie Presley; granddaughter of Elvis Presley
- Riley Elizabeth WestonGirl
American actress
- Riley ReidGirl
American adult film actress
- Riley DeLuise (b. 1993)Girl
daughter of actor David DeLuise; granddaughter of actor Dom DeLuise
- Riley Shannon McCusker (b. 2001)Girl
American gymnast
- Riley Burruss (b. 2002)Girl
daughter of reality TV personality Kandi Burruss of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"
- Riley Claire Bryggman (b. 2003)Girl
daughter of actor Larry Bryggman
- Riley Rose Campbell (b. 2004)Girl
daughter of actors Alan Campbell and Lauren Kennedy
- Coco Riley Arquette (b. 2004)Girl
daughter of actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette
- Riley Collins (b. 2005)Girl
daughter of NFL player Kerry Collins
- Riley Dylan Sullivan (b. 2007)Girl
daughter of baseball player Cory Sullivan
- Riley Norah Tracy (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of TV journalist Norah O'Donnell and chef Geoff Tracy
- Hania Riley Sinclair (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of actor Vin Diesel and model Paloma Jimenez
- Riley Maddox Blais (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of Richard Blais of "Top Chef"
- Riley Elizabeth Dempster (b. 2009)Girl
daughter of baseball player Ryan Dempster
- Riley Barber (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of NFL player Tiki Barber; twin of Ella Barber
- Riley Elizabeth Curry (b. 2012)Girl
daughter of basketball player Stephen Curry
- Riley Grace Vilasuso (b. 2012)Girl
daughter of actor Jordi Vilasuso
- Riley Anne Mesnick (b. 2013)Girl
daughter of reality TV personalities Jason and Molly Mesnick of "The Bachelor/ette"
- Riley Paige Busby (b.2015)Girl
one of the Busby Quints on TV's "Outdaughtered"
- Riley "B.B." KingBoy
American blues musician
- (James) Riley BreckenridgeBoy
American drummer
- Riley ChamberlinBoy
American actor
- Riley Lee MartinBoy
American author and radio host
- Riley Bryant SmithBoy
American actor
- Riley Mackey OdomsBoy
American NFL football player
- Riley MathesonBoy
American NFL football player
- Riley Thomas CooperBoy
American NFL football player
- Riley GriffithsBoy
American actor
- Riley PintBoy
American baseball player
- Riley Thomas McDonoughBoy
American musician of band Before You Exit
- Riley Sweeney Lynch (b. 1992)Boy
son of director David Lynch
- (Hudson) Riley Hawk (b. 1992)Boy
son of skateboarder Tony Hawk
- Riley Ken'ichi Marino (b. 2006)Boy
son of actor Ken Marino
- Riley Edward Donoho (b. 2006)Boy
son of actress Holly Marie Combs
- Riley John WagnerBoy
Lewis (b. 2006), son of TV journalist Katie Wagner
- Riley James David Hill (b. 2008)Boy
son of reality TV personality Steven Hill
- Riley Kinnear (b. 2010)Boy
son of actors Rory Kinnear and Pandora Collin
- Riley Doran Manno (b. 2018)Boy
son of American television and radio host Kevin Manno and American television personality, correspondent, host, spokesperson, and blogger Ali Fedotowsky,Manno, brother to Molly Sullivan
Riley in pop culture
- RileyGirl
character in "Moving in"
- RileyGirl
British motor car
- Riley DaringGirl
main character on TV's "The Replacements"
- Riley LawrenceGirl
character in film "Winning London"
- Riley CarlsonGirl
character on TV's "So Little Time"
- Riley ParksGirl
main character on TV's "The Client List"
- Riley MatthewsGirl
daughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews on "Girl Meets World"
- Riley PerrinGirl
character on TV's "Baby Daddy"
- Riley BlueGirl
character on the Netflix show "Sense8"
- Riley AndersenGirl
character in Disney Pixar's "Inside Out"
- Riley GrandyGirl
Gwen's daughter on TV's "The Mindy Project"
- Riley MarraGirl
a character on MTV's "Scream"
- RileyGirl
character on TV's 'The Next Step'
- Riley DavisGirl
character on TV's "MacGyver"
- Riley FinnBoy
character on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
- Riley FreemanBoy
character in "The Boondocks" comic strip and TV series
- Riley StavrosBoy
character on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
- Riley RobertsBoy
character on TV's "The Torkelsons"
- Riley PooleBoy
character in the National Treasure movies
- Riley ParkerBoy
character on Australian TV soap "Neighbours"
- Riley CostelloBoy
character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
- Riley BayBoy
character in "Awoken" by Serra Elinsen
- Riley CromosBoy
character in "Sims" series
- Riley BiersBoy
character in the Twilight Saga
- Riley Douglas MartinBoy
character on TV's "Living with Fran"
- Riley BurnsBoy
character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- RileyBoy
a British motor car named after its originators, the Riley family
- "The Life of RileyBoy
" song by The Lightning Seeds