Riley
Riley Origin and Meaning
Riley -- one of the most popular unisex names -- is trendier now for girls though for boys it's a classic, ALWAYS ranking in the US Top 1000.
In fact, after a decade of softening, Riley has recently taken a turn upward for boys, along with a lot of other gender-neutral names. These days, parents are embracing unisex names even more enthusiastically for their sons than for their daughters.
Riley ranks in the Top 100 for boys throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, though interestingly not in its native Ireland. In the US, Riley is the most popular Irish name for girls.
There are lots of athletes and other notable real-life namesakes for a boy named Riley, as well as fictional ones in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight: Eclipse. And Riley can easily be shortened for a boy to Ry or Lee.
Riley Rank in US Top 1000
Riley Rank in Nameberry Top 1000
Riley Popularity
- 225US2022
- 369Nameberry2024
- 70England2021
- 85Scotland2023
- 44Australia2022
- 44New Zealand2023
- 97Netherlands2020
- 64Dogs2022
- 156Canada2022
20 Names Similar to Riley
Riley Parker Rory Dylan Ryder Hayden Connor Aiden Ryan Avery Carter Quinn Aidan Rylan Mason Logan Cooper Charlie Blake Finley
Famous People Named Riley
- Riley "B.B." KingAmerican blues musician
- (James) Riley BreckenridgeAmerican drummer
- Riley ChamberlinAmerican actor
- Riley Lee MartinAmerican author and radio host
- Riley Bryant SmithAmerican actor
- Riley Mackey OdomsAmerican NFL football player
- Riley MathesonAmerican NFL football player
- Riley Thomas CooperAmerican NFL football player
- Riley GriffithsAmerican actor
- Riley PintAmerican baseball player
- Riley Thomas McDonoughAmerican musician of band Before You Exit
- Riley Sweeney Lynch (b. 1992)son of director David Lynch
- (Hudson) Riley Hawk (b. 1992)son of skateboarder Tony Hawk
- Riley Ken'ichi Marino (b. 2006)son of actor Ken Marino
- Riley Edward Donoho (b. 2006)son of actress Holly Marie Combs
- Riley John WagnerLewis (b. 2006), son of TV journalist Katie Wagner
- Riley James David Hill (b. 2008)son of reality TV personality Steven Hill
- Riley Kinnear (b. 2010)son of actors Rory Kinnear and Pandora Collin
- Riley Doran Manno (b. 2018)son of American television and radio host Kevin Manno and American television personality, correspondent, host, spokesperson, and blogger Ali Fedotowsky,Manno, brother to Molly Sullivan
Riley in Pop Culture
- Riley Finncharacter on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
- Riley Freemancharacter in "The Boondocks" comic strip and TV series
- Riley Stavroscharacter on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
- Riley Robertscharacter on TV's "The Torkelsons"
- Riley Poolecharacter in the National Treasure movies
- Riley Parkercharacter on Australian TV soap "Neighbours"
- Riley Costellocharacter on British soap "Hollyoaks"
- Riley Baycharacter in "Awoken" by Serra Elinsen
- Riley Cromoscharacter in "Sims" series
- Riley Bierscharacter in the Twilight Saga
- Riley Douglas Martincharacter on TV's "Living with Fran"
- Riley Burnscharacter in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- Rileya British motor car named after its originators, the Riley family
- Riley (as distinct from Reilly) is not always an Irish surname; it also originates in the English county of Lancashire.
- "The Life of Riley" song by The Lightning Seeds