Meaning and history
Riley comes from two distinct surnames: the Irish Riley, a variant of Reilly, and an English surname derived from a place name meaning "rye clearing" in Old English. Rare as an American masculine given name before 1980, it grew steadily for both boys and girls during the 1980s and 1990s and has been more common for girls in the United States since 2003. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, however, it has remained largely masculine.
20062006: 5,056 births, rank #56
2007: 5,212 births, rank #52
2008: 5,774 births, rank #39
2009: 5,637 births, rank #38
2010: 5,543 births, rank #40
20112011: 5,045 births, rank #47
2012: 4,833 births, rank #47
2013: 4,941 births, rank #45
2014: 4,800 births, rank #47
2015: 5,739 births, rank #35
20162016: 7,159 births, rank #22
2017: 6,368 births, rank #25
2018: 6,010 births, rank #28
2019: 5,712 births, rank #30
2020: 5,339 births, rank #33
20212021: 5,225 births, rank #37
2022: 4,914 births, rank #39
2023: 4,643 births, rank #43
2024: 4,657 births, rank #42
20252025: 4,441 births, rank #48
Riley has risen sharply in the modern US rankings, moving from #131 in 2000 to #48 in 2025. It now stands at #48 for girls. Its highest annual birth count came in 2016, with 7,159 births.