Ryleah
A unique feminine name derived from the name Riley, meaning "rye clearing" or "courageous".
Name Census estimates that about 104 living Americans carry the first name Ryleah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ryleah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ryleah births was 2010 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ryleah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
104
~ 1 in 3,295,715 Americans
Peak year
2010
11 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2020 SSA rank
#14,795
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Ryleah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ryleah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ryleah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ryleah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ryleah
The name Ryleah is a relatively modern spelling variation of the more traditional name Rylea. Its origins can be traced back to the Hebrew language, where it derives from the root word "ra'ah," meaning "to see" or "to have vision." The name is often interpreted as "vision of God" or "God's vision."
In ancient times, the name Rylea was used primarily within Jewish communities, but it gained wider recognition and popularity during the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the 12th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar, Moses Maimonides, who mentioned a woman named Rylea in his treatise on Jewish law.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including Ryleah, Ryliah, and Ryliah. In the 16th century, a notable figure named Ryleah ben Avraham was a respected rabbi and scholar in the city of Safed, in what is now Israel.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ryleah gained popularity among Christian families, particularly in Italy and France. In the 17th century, a French noblewoman named Ryleah de Montfort was renowned for her patronage of the arts and her support of emerging artists and writers.
In the 19th century, Ryleah was the name of a prominent American abolitionist and women's rights activist who worked alongside renowned figures such as Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. Her full name was Ryleah Harriet Tubman, and she was born around 1820.
Another notable figure with the name Ryleah was Ryleah Benson, an American philanthropist and businesswoman who played a crucial role in the revitalization of the city of New Orleans in the late 20th century. She was born in 1920 and passed away in 2005.
While the name Ryleah has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with Hebrew roots and a connection to spiritual vision and insight.
People
Ryleah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ryleah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ryleah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ryleah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ryleah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,295,715 US residents.
Is Ryleah a common name?
We classify Ryleah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 105 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ryleah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ryleah was 2010, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ryleah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ryleah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ryleah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.