Names/R

Riley

girls’ name · 57%boys’ name · 43%ComebackCompare

Riley is ranked 42nd among girls in 2024 (4,644 births). Its best rank was 22nd, in 2016.

Rank in 2024
#42up 1 from 2023
Births in 2024
4,6440.29% of girls
Peak year
20167,159 births
Best rank
#22in 2016
Since 1923
240,821people given the name
Babies named Riley, by year of birthgirlsboys
02.5k5k7.5k10k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

137,477 girls have been named Riley in the United States since 1923, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2016, with 7,159 births — 0.40% of all girls recorded that year.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2012, and the 2010s alone account for 41%. It has spent 35 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 23 of them in the top 100.

Riley is used for both sexes: 43% of its bearers are boys (103,344), most of them born around 2006.

Rank among girls, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadegirls named Riley
1920s11
1930s11
1940s21
1950s18
1960s11
1970s72
1980s684
1990s10,234
2000s45,531
2010s56,140
2020s24,744

In 2016, its biggest year

Riley was the 22nd most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 2016 were Emma, Olivia, Ava, Sophia and Isabella. See all of 2016.

Names that rose and fell with Riley

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.