# Rihanna (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/rihanna/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | “basil”, “myrtle” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Rhianna |
| US babies named this | 6,617 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5 / 6,612 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,742, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Arabic رَيْحَانَة (rayḥāna, singulative of رَيْحَان (rayḥān, “basil; myrtle”)).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 381 | 726 |
| 2012 | 323 | 831 |
| 2013 | 269 | 940 |
| 2014 | 209 | 1,176 |
| 2015 | 178 | 1,335 |
| 2016 | 178 | 1,334 |
| 2017 | 162 | 1,414 |
| 2018 | 166 | 1,363 |
| 2019 | 129 | 1,646 |
| 2020 | 144 | 1,492 |
| 2021 | 133 | 1,581 |
| 2022 | 127 | 1,666 |
| 2023 | 165 | 1,371 |
| 2024 | 115 | 1,766 |
| 2025 | 87 | 2,150 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 5 | 14,170 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 143 | 336 |
| 2012 | 81 | 522 |
| 2013 | 60 | 663 |
| 2014 | 47 | 814 |
| 2015 | 35 | 1,007 |
| 2016 | 41 | 897 |
| 2017 | 31 | 1,105 |
| 2018 | 33 | 1,059 |
| 2019 | 26 | 1,252 |
| 2020 | 31 | 1,065 |
| 2021 | 24 | 1,311 |
| 2022 | 24 | 1,326 |
| 2023 | 39 | 906 |
| 2024 | 27 | 1,230 |
| 2025 | 15 | 1,892 |

## People named Rihanna

- Rihanna, Barbadian singer and businesswoman

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.