Riley

Did you know?

A few things about Riley you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Riley

Riley Keough

American actress

Choose Riley and your child shares a first name with Riley Keough, an American actress. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Riley, like who?” Riley Keough's Wikipedia article is available in 43 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Riley Keough on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 362 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Riley, 4,441 babies in all. In a school of 500 kids, there'd probably be one other Riley.
• 📜HistoryRiley has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Rileys, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2016, when it reached #22.
• 📍Where it's lovedRiley is most popular in Pennsylvania, where it ranks #22, followed by Rhode Island (#23) and Connecticut (#24). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• ⚖️Boy or girlRiley is given to both boys and girls: 73% of the 6,107 babies named Riley in 2025 were girls. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 💬MeaningIn Old English, Riley means “rye clearing”. Our records link it to Celtic and Irish roots.
• 🌍OriginRiley is the #4 most popular Celtic girl name in the US. That's out of 407 Celtic girl and unisex names in our list.

About the name Riley

Riley is a gender-neutral name of Celtic and Irish origin meaning “rye clearing”. It has 5 letters and 2 syllables, starting with R and ending in “-ley”. US birth records list Riley for girls from 1923 to 2025, in 66 of those 103 years. Its best year was 2016, when it ranked #22 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #48, with 4,441 babies. Of the 6,107 US babies named Riley in 2025, 73% were girls and 27% were boys.

Origin:Celtic namesIrish names