Ryleigh
A feminine variant of Riley, from an English surname based on a town name.
Name Census estimates that about 34,353 living Americans carry the first name Ryleigh. It sits at #302 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Ryleigh today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ryleigh births was 2019 (2,040 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ryleigh. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Ryleigh is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 429 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Ryleigh is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
34K
~ 1 in 9,977 Americans
Peak year
2019
2,040 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#302
Tracked since 1986
Gender
Gender distribution for Ryleigh
Ryleigh leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 429 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ryleigh as a male name
- Ranked #6,387 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (31 births)
Ryleigh as a female name
- Ranked #302 in 2024
- 1,037 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (2,024 births)
Popularity
Ryleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ryleigh from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 18,070 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ryleigh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ryleigh 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 Ryleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ryleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ryleigh, while District of Columbia, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 651 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ryleigh
The name Ryleigh is a modern variant of the English name Riley, which originated as a surname derived from the Old English words "riċe" meaning "rich" and "lēah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." It was initially a locational surname referring to someone who lived in a rich meadow or clearing.
The earliest recorded use of the surname Riley dates back to the 13th century in England. Over time, some families adopted the surname as a given name, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The variant spelling Ryleigh emerged in the late 20th century, likely influenced by the popularity of names ending in "leigh" or "lee."
While the name Ryleigh does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its roots can be traced back to Old English, which was the language spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 11th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Riley as a given name is Sir Benjamin Riley (1758-1828), an English merchant and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Appleby and Calne.
Another notable bearer of the name was James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916), an American writer and poet known as the "Hoosier Poet" for his works celebrating the rural life of Indiana. His poems, such as "When the Frost Is on the Punkin" and "Little Orphant Annie," became widely popular during his lifetime.
In the 20th century, Riley B. King (1925-2015), better known as B.B. King, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter who popularized the blues genre and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Ryleigh Vaughan (born 1992) is a British actress and model known for her roles in television series such as "Hollyoaks" and "The Royals."
Riley Pint (born 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 2016 MLB draft.
While the name Ryleigh is a relatively modern variant, it has roots in the rich linguistic history of Old English and has been borne by notable individuals throughout the centuries.
People
Ryleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ryleigh 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
Ryleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ryleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 34,353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ryleigh 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 9,977 US residents.
Is Ryleigh a common name?
We classify Ryleigh as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,671 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ryleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Ryleigh was 2019, when 2,040 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ryleigh is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ryleigh a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Ryleigh 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.