NameTides

River

River was the #111 boys' name in the US in 2025 (3,139 babies), and #110 in England & Wales and #150 in Canada.

River as a boy’s name

  • US
  • England & Wales
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland
  • Ireland
  • Canada
  • NSW
  • VIC
River as a boy’s name, US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada, NSW, VICBabies per 1,000 in the published list, 1880–2025, for US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada. Gaps mark years with too few babies to be published.00.631.251.882.518801900192019401960198020002020USEngland & WalesScotlandCanadaNorthern IrelandIreland
River as a boy’s name, US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada, NSW, VICBabies per 1,000 in the published list, 1880–2025, for US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada. Gaps mark years with too few babies to be published.00.631.251.882.51880192019602000
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex in each published list. New South Wales and Victoria publish their top 100 only, so they appear in the rank view and only in years the name made the top 100. Breaks in a line are years with too few babies to be published.
Show the numbers
YearUSEngland & WalesScotlandNorthern IrelandIrelandCanadaNSWVIC
2025#111 (3,139)#110 (481)#132 (34)#199 (10)#372 (10)#150 (218)#85 (99)#58 (118)
2024#112 (3,160)#117 (459)#176 (25)#339 (4)#302 (13)#145 (223)—#70 (107)
2023#116 (3,117)#131 (410)#138 (35)#232 (8)#319 (13)#149 (208)#75 (106)#84 (80)
2022#105 (3,500)#132 (430)#171 (28)#264 (7)#429 (8)#149 (225)#81 (106)#54 (113)
2021#110 (3,504)#131 (442)#199 (23)#326 (5)#390 (9)#128 (279)#70 (133)#50 (131)
2020#129 (2,816)#159 (334)#221 (19)—#342 (12)#179 (200)—#57 (119)
2019#168 (2,371)#194 (267)#296 (12)—#402 (9)#212 (174)——
2018#197 (2,078)#181 (292)#240 (18)——#232 (157)—#77 (84)
2017#200 (1,969)#260 (205)#318 (12)#318 (5)#610 (4)#217 (171)——
2016#212 (1,852)#326 (145)#401 (8)—#448 (7)#263 (136)——
2015#243 (1,516)#393 (108)———#294 (116)——
2014#287 (1,243)#566 (63)#680 (3)——#299 (114)——
2013#371 (830)#479 (80)#520 (5)——#361 (82)——
2012#403 (722)#498 (76)#568 (4)——#445 (62)——
2011#424 (645)#501 (72)——#623 (4)#379 (76)——

River as a girl’s name

  • US
  • England & Wales
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland
  • Ireland
  • Canada
River as a girl’s name, US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, CanadaBabies per 1,000 in the published list, 1880–2025, for US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada. Gaps mark years with too few babies to be published.00.631.251.882.518801900192019401960198020002020ScotlandEngland & WalesNorthern IrelandUSCanadaIreland
River as a girl’s name, US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, CanadaBabies per 1,000 in the published list, 1880–2025, for US, England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada. Gaps mark years with too few babies to be published.00.631.251.882.51880192019602000
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex in each published list. Breaks in a line are years with too few babies to be published.
Show the numbers
YearUSEngland & WalesScotlandNorthern IrelandIrelandCanada
2025#219 (1,401)#168 (287)#106 (42)#205 (8)#885 (3)#303 (103)
2024#215 (1,442)#167 (302)#135 (33)#253 (6)#631 (5)#307 (100)
2023#192 (1,587)#139 (352)#115 (39)#391 (3)#555 (6)#236 (120)
2022#150 (1,930)#125 (408)#108 (40)#266 (6)#458 (8)#203 (142)
2021#149 (1,886)#119 (423)#131 (34)#171 (12)#586 (6)#165 (172)
2020#184 (1,562)#151 (339)#139 (31)—#444 (8)#241 (125)
2019#211 (1,441)#167 (304)#191 (22)#424 (3)—#205 (143)
2018#244 (1,333)#187 (281)#286 (13)—#896 (3)#273 (119)
2017#270 (1,181)#298 (164)#304 (12)#432 (3)#873 (3)#299 (109)
2016#283 (1,132)#343 (141)#356 (10)—#661 (5)#254 (128)
2015#348 (951)#410 (110)#379 (9)——#430 (77)
2014#453 (708)#383 (116)#477 (7)——#417 (78)
2013#585 (488)#684 (58)#816 (3)——#451 (71)
2012#683 (412)#768 (51)#815 (3)——#571 (52)
2011#891 (293)#738 (52)#810 (3)——#797 (34)

The tide so far

  • Peaked in the US in 2022 at #105.
  • Holding steady over the last five years.
  • First recorded in the US in 1971.
  • In 2025, 31% of US babies named River were girls.

How common is it?

about 1 in 540 baby boys in the published US list for 2025.

In a group of 1,000 children born that year, you would expect to meet about 2. How we work this out.

How common, country by country

WhereSexLatest yearShareVerdict
USBoys2025about 1 in 540common
England & WalesBoys2025about 1 in 570common
ScotlandBoys2025about 1 in 580common
Northern IrelandBoys2025about 1 in 830common
IrelandBoys2025about 1 in 2,400uncommon
CanadaBoys2025about 1 in 730common
USGirls2025about 1 in 1,100uncommon
England & WalesGirls2025about 1 in 880common
ScotlandGirls2025about 1 in 430common
Northern IrelandGirls2025about 1 in 910common
IrelandGirls2025about 1 in 7,000uncommon
CanadaGirls2025about 1 in 1,500uncommon

Next year

On its recent trend, River is likely to hold steady in the US in 2026: about 1 in 570 baby boys. Likely range 1 in 540 to 1 in 610.

Estimate, not an official figure. How we estimate.

Across the US

River by state, 2025Alaska: #165AKMaine: #82MEWisconsin: #173WIVermont: #64VTNew Hampshire: #88NHWashington: #95WAIdaho: #67IDMontana: #55MTNorth Dakota: #152NDMinnesota: #129MNIllinois: #146ILMichigan: #102MINew York: #163NYMassachusetts: #178MAOregon: #75ORNevada: #123NVWyoming: fewer than 5 babiesWYSouth Dakota: #105SDIowa: #68IAIndiana: #96INOhio: #109OHPennsylvania: #129PANew Jersey: #268NJConnecticut: #268CTRhode Island: fewer than 5 babiesRICalifornia: #139CAUtah: #78UTColorado: #125CONebraska: #131NEMissouri: #65MOKentucky: #79KYWest Virginia: #44WVVirginia: #109VAMaryland: #153MDDelaware: #93DEArizona: #106AZNew Mexico: #106NMKansas: #79KSArkansas: #42ARTennessee: #57TNNorth Carolina: #88NCSouth Carolina: #76SCDistrict of Columbia: fewer than 5 babiesDCOklahoma: #61OKLouisiana: #88LAMississippi: #86MSAlabama: #63ALGeorgia: #74GAHawaii: #56HITexas: #152TXFlorida: #125FL
River (boys) rank in each state, 2025. Hatched states recorded fewer than 5 babies.
  • #1–10
  • #11–50
  • #51–100
  • #101–500
  • below #500

Across Canada

ProvinceYearRankBabies
Ontario2024#15984
Quebec2025#5707

River (boys): rank in each province’s latest list. Only Quebec and Ontario publish full name lists; Ontario’s latest list is a year behind.

Spellings

Official statistics count each spelling separately, so we show them side by side rather than adding them up.

SpellingWhereSexLatest rankBabies
RiverCanadaGirls#303103
RiverCanadaBoys#150218
RiverEngland & WalesGirls#168287
RiverEngland & WalesBoys#110481
RiverIrelandGirls#8853
RiverIrelandBoys#37210
RiverNorthern IrelandGirls#2058
RiverNorthern IrelandBoys#19910
RiverNSWBoys#8599
RiverScotlandGirls#10642
RiverScotlandBoys#13234
RiverUSGirls#2191,401
RiverUSBoys#1113,139
RiverVICBoys#58118