988 Baby Names That Start With R (With Meanings and Popularity)

Baby names that start with R are often cheerful and high-energy. That's true of the Irish name Riley, which leads the list of popular R names for girls. Riley has many well-used variations, including Rylee, Ryleigh, and Rylie.

Roman recently overtook Ryan as the most popular R name for boys. Roman is an ancient name that's always been among the US Top 1000 masculine names but has been trending upward since the 1980s. It's at its highest point ever now, in the Top 100.

Along with Riley, other girl names beginning with R in the US Top 200 include Ruby, Reagan, Rose, Raelynn, and Reese. In addition to Roman, other boy names starting with R in the US Top 200 include Robert, Ryan, Ryker, Ryder, and Rhett.

Many of the trendiest R names are unisex, such as Rowan, River, Royal, Rory, and Remi. Romilly, Rooney, and Ripley are among the rarer gender-neutral names with the R initial.

Rare R names for girls include lovely feminine options Rafaella and Rosamund. Uncommon boy names beginning with the letter R include Rhodes, Raleigh, and Rex.

Unique R names chosen by celebrities include RZA and Riot Rose (the sons of Rihanna and A$AP Rocky), Rockwell (Lucy Liu), Rafa (Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale), Rumi (Beyoncé and Jay Z), and Raddix (Cameron Diaz).

Here, our full selection of names that start with R, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

Related:

Search Names by Letter

Baby Names A-Z