Riley
Pronounced R AY1 L IY0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 2016
- 102 years in use
- 4 spellings
How popular is Riley?
Riley is a name given to both boys and girls, and first appears in 1923. It has been given to 265,529 children — the 277th most common girls' name on record.
Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 2016, when 7,616 children were given it.
Four other spellings are counted in that total — Reilly, Ryley, Rilee and one more — because they are pronounced identically.
Roughly 42% of children named Riley are boys, so the split is a real one rather than a rounding error.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Riley and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Reilly
- Ryley
- Rilee
- Rileigh
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- R AY1 L IY0
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Riley
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Riley
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Riley?
- Riley ranks 277th among girls' names in US records, with 265,529 births since 1923. Over the past decade it accounts for 58,705.
- Is Riley a unisex name?
- Yes. About 42% of children given the name are boys, which is a genuine split rather than a rounding error.
- When was Riley most popular?
- 2016, when 7,616 children were given the name. It has been in use for 102 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Riley spelled?
- Reilly, Ryley, Rilee, Rileigh. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.