Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Riley?
Births per year, rank history and how many Rileys are alive today.
Riley (male) is currently the 80th most popular boys' name in England and Wales, with 685 babies given the name in 2024. This spelling of the name peaked in 2012, when 4,825 babies were given the name, the 8th most popular that year. It has declined since 2012; the 2024 figure is roughly 14% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 37,000 babies have been named Riley in England and Wales since 1996. Riley is one spelling of a name also recorded as Ryley; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Riley you are most likely to meet is around 14 years old. Half of all Rileys born in England and Wales are between 11 and 17, and there are at least 40,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 12% chance that at least one of them will be called Riley.
How many babies are named Riley each year?
Includes all spellings: Riley, Ryley. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Riley spelling rank?
Where does the Ryley spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Riley most popular?
Riley peaked in 2012, when 5,044 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Riley?
At least 40,000 people named Riley in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Riley?
Most living Rileys are between 11 and 17; the most common age is about 14.
Is Riley becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 2012 peak.