Girl or boy · Irish and English surname
Riley
Say it: RY-lee
Meaning
From an Irish surname (Ó Raghallaigh, of uncertain meaning) or an English place name, 'rye clearing'.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Used for boys in the US since the 1880s and for girls from the 1990s.
Its wave through time
A revival, back after decades away
In the United States
- 214,993 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 2008, about 1 in 327 girls
- 6,659 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Reilly, Rylee
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.