# River (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/river/  
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 | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 59,351 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 39,676 / 19,675 (33% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 7,763, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From river.

## 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 | 293 | 892 |
| 2012 | 412 | 683 |
| 2013 | 488 | 586 |
| 2014 | 708 | 453 |
| 2015 | 951 | 348 |
| 2016 | 1,132 | 285 |
| 2017 | 1,181 | 270 |
| 2018 | 1,333 | 244 |
| 2019 | 1,441 | 212 |
| 2020 | 1,562 | 184 |
| 2021 | 1,886 | 149 |
| 2022 | 1,930 | 150 |
| 2023 | 1,587 | 193 |
| 2024 | 1,442 | 215 |
| 2025 | 1,401 | 220 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 645 | 424 |
| 2012 | 722 | 405 |
| 2013 | 830 | 371 |
| 2014 | 1,243 | 287 |
| 2015 | 1,516 | 244 |
| 2016 | 1,852 | 212 |
| 2017 | 1,969 | 200 |
| 2018 | 2,078 | 197 |
| 2019 | 2,371 | 168 |
| 2020 | 2,816 | 129 |
| 2021 | 3,504 | 110 |
| 2022 | 3,500 | 105 |
| 2023 | 3,117 | 116 |
| 2024 | 3,160 | 112 |
| 2025 | 3,139 | 111 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 52 | 738 |
| 2012 | 51 | 768 |
| 2013 | 58 | 684 |
| 2014 | 116 | 383 |
| 2015 | 110 | 410 |
| 2016 | 141 | 343 |
| 2017 | 164 | 298 |
| 2018 | 281 | 187 |
| 2019 | 304 | 167 |
| 2020 | 339 | 151 |
| 2021 | 423 | 119 |
| 2022 | 408 | 125 |
| 2023 | 352 | 139 |
| 2024 | 302 | 167 |
| 2025 | 287 | 168 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 72 | 501 |
| 2012 | 76 | 498 |
| 2013 | 80 | 479 |
| 2014 | 63 | 566 |
| 2015 | 108 | 393 |
| 2016 | 145 | 326 |
| 2017 | 205 | 260 |
| 2018 | 292 | 181 |
| 2019 | 267 | 194 |
| 2020 | 334 | 159 |
| 2021 | 442 | 131 |
| 2022 | 430 | 132 |
| 2023 | 410 | 131 |
| 2024 | 459 | 117 |
| 2025 | 481 | 110 |

## People named River

- River Phoenix, American actor and musician (1970–1993)
- River Alexander, American actor
- River Radamus, American alpine ski racer
- River Gallo, American filmmaker, actor, model, and intersex rights activist

## 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.