Riley

Meaning: Rye meadow or clearing
Origin: Old English

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) · #78 in N. Ireland (2025) · #83 in England & Wales (2025) · #84 in Scotland (2025) · #194 in Ireland (2025) · #284 in Netherlands (2025) · #822 in France (2025) · #977 in Sweden (2025) · #1,173 in Belgium (2025) and 3 more.

Famous Rileys

Riley McGree — Australian association football player
Riley Smith — American actor-model
Riley Salmon — Volleyball player
Riley Fitzsimmons — Australian canoeist
Riley Sheahan — Canadian ice hockey player

In stories & tradition

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

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 association football player.

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

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

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