Riley Boy & girl
How popular is Riley?
#48 girl name in 2025
4,441 baby girls were named Riley in the US in 2025, making it the 48th most popular girl name. Another 1,666 boys got the name (#207 for boys).
Riley popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #48 for girls (▼ 6 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 4,441 girls, 1,666 boys |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-23% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #35 in 2015, #33 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2016 (7,159 girls) |
| Highest rank | #22 in 2016 |
| First recorded | 1923 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 22% boys, 78% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 4% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Riley counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Riley family of names ranked #17 for girls in 2025 (#16 the year before), with 8,189 babies in all.
| Spelling | Girls in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Riley | 4,441 | 54% |
| Rylee | 2,118 | 26% |
| Ryleigh | 891 | 11% |
| Rylie | 644 | 8% |
| Rilee | 20 | 0% |
| Ryley | 39 | 0% |
| Rileigh | 25 | 0% |
| Ryli | 11 | 0% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Riley is most popular
Babies named Riley per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Delaware: 8.0 per 1,000 (91 girls)
- Rhode Island: 7.5 per 1,000 (94 girls)
- New Hampshire: 7.0 per 1,000 (129 girls)
- Hawaii: 6.2 per 1,000 (71 girls)
- Connecticut: 6.1 per 1,000 (355 girls)
Riley by decade
| Decade | Baby girls | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 11 | #4,051 |
| 1930s | 11 | #3,798 |
| 1940s | 21 | #4,418 |
| 1950s | 18 | #4,482 |
| 1960s | 11 | #5,816 |
| 1970s | 72 | #4,419 |
| 1980s | 680 | #1,011 |
| 1990s | 10,234 | #138 |
| 2000s | 45,533 | #38 |
| 2010s | 56,150 | #22 |
| 2020s | 29,219 | #33 |
Girl names about as popular as Riley
Questions
- Is Riley a boy or girl name?
- Riley is used for both. Over the last 10 years, 22% of babies named Riley were boys and 78% were girls.
- How popular is the name Riley?
- 4,441 baby girls were named Riley in the US in 2025, making it the 48th most popular girl name. Another 1,666 boys got the name (#207 for boys).
- When was Riley most popular?
- Riley peaked in 2016, when 7,159 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #22 in 2016.
- How many people are named Riley?
- 246,985 babies have been named Riley in the US since 1880. We estimate about 237,587 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 17.
- Where is Riley most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Riley was most common in Delaware, at 8.0 of every 1,000 girls born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.