Riley

Meaning: Rye clearing
Origin: English surname

Meaning: Descendant of Raghallach
Origin: Irish surname — Variant of Reilly

Boy's name · #208 in the US (2025) · 2000s wave

25% boys · 75% girls — About 75% of babies named Riley in recent years have been girls. Riley →

Popularity over time

Riley's best rank, #99, came in 2002; it has settled back to #208 today. Roughly 105,000 boys have been named Riley since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Riley is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 50 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Riley ranks in other countries and regions.

#53 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #62 in Australia (VIC) (2025) · #66 in Australia (NSW) (2025) · #66 in New Zealand (2025) · #77 in N. Ireland (2025) · #83 in England & Wales (2025) · #83 in Scotland (2025) · #173 in Canada (2025) · #188 in Ireland (2025) · #284 in Netherlands (2025) · #822 in France (2025) · #977 in Sweden (2025) and 6 more.

Famous Rileys

Riley Green — American singer-songwriter (born 1988)
Riley Hawk — American skateboarder (born 1992)
Riley McGree — Australian footballer (born 1998)
Riley Smith — American actor (born 1978)
Riley Leonard — American football player (born 2002)

In stories & tradition

Riley Finn — Character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Riley Adams^it — CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV series)
Riley Costello — Fictional character from Hollyoaks

What Rileys become

Among 347 notable people named Riley:

Sports figures appear 3.04× more often than among typical names — e.g. Riley McGree, Australian footballer (born 1998).

Similar names: Rylee · Cole · Rylan · Eli · Ashton · Brady

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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