Unisex — 33% girls#566 of boy names
River
Pronounced R IH1 V ER0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 2021
- 54 years in use
How popular is River?
River is a name given to both boys and girls, and first appears in 1971. It has been given to 54,754 children — the 566th most common boys' name on record.
It is climbing hard: about four times as many births in the past decade as in the one before it. Its best single year was 2021, when 3,503 children were given it.
Roughly 33% of children named River are girls, so the split is a real one rather than a rounding error.
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- R IH1 V ER0
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like River
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for River
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name River?
- River ranks 566th among boys' names in US records, with 54,754 births since 1971. Over the past decade it accounts for 25,843.
- Is River a unisex name?
- Yes. About 33% of children given the name are girls, which is a genuine split rather than a rounding error.
- When was River most popular?
- 2021, when 3,503 children were given the name. It has been in use for 54 years and is still recorded as of 2024.