River

#219 for girls in 2025, 1,401 births · #111 for boys in 2025, 3,139 births
Given to boys 66.8% of the time

Showing
Show data for
Peak · boys
2022 · 3,500 births
Debut · boys
6 births
In top 100 · boys
never
of 146 years
Total births · boys
39,676
since 1971

River over time

girlsboys

Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.

#1#10#100#1,000#10,000rank188019001920194019601980200020202017girlsat peakboysat peak
Hover or use arrow keys to read values by year; click or press Enter to open that year.

Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.

Show data table
Yeargirlsboys
rankbirthsrankbirths
2025#2191,401#1113,139
2024#2151,442#1123,160
2023#1921,587#1163,117
2022#1501,930#1053,500
2021#1491,886#1103,504
2020#1841,562#1292,816
2019#2111,441#1682,371
2018#2441,333#1972,078
2017#2701,181#2001,969
2016#2831,132#2121,852
2015#348951#2431,516
2014#453708#2871,243
2013#585488#371830
2012#683412#403722
2011#891293#424645
2010#973262#432634
2009#949281#448619
2008#1,049249#454611
2007#1,129229#553464
2006#1,295181#513505
2005#2,03092#517476
2004#1,883100#549420
2003#2,32172#570388
2002#2,37967#610329
2001#2,23672#607323
2000#2,81751#611314
1999#2,56755#559359
1998#2,57053#496435
1997#2,73345#518389
1996#3,23736#632269
1995#4,09925#619278
1994#7,09712#924141
1993#7,03812#1,63854
1992#10,4797#2,08537
1991#6,97612#2,46928
1990#7,88010#2,17033
1989#1,85840
1988#11,7985#3,70513
1987#3,52113
1986#6,7215
1985
1984
1983
1982#5,6196
1981#6,2625
1980
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975#4,3097
1974#5,2275
1973
1972#3,6228
1971#4,3756
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First appearance
1971

The first year at least five boys were named River! It came in at #4,375, and was given to 6 baby boys.


Quietest stretch: 1973–1974, when fewer than 6 boys a year got the name.

See more about River
Momentum · boys
Holding steady
  • 1 spot since 2024 (#112#111)
  • 18 spots since 2020 (#129#111)
  • 132 spots since 2015 (#243#111)
  • Biggest jump: 714 spots in 1994 (#1,638#924)
  • Biggest drop: 63 spots in 1999 (#496#559)
Rise & fade · boys
51 yrs to peak
  • Debuted 1971
  • Peaked 2022 at #105 (3,500 births)
  • Not yet halved from its peak
Top of the charts · boys
Top 1,000 for 32 yrs
  • Top 10: never
  • Top 100: never
  • Top 1,000: 32 yrs · run 1994–2025
Share of babies · boys
1 in 499
  • Highest: 1 in 499 boys born in 2022 were named River (0.20%)
  • Latest: 1 in 544 boys born in 2025 (0.18%)
Era · boys
The 2020s
  • 48.5% of all boys named River (19,236) were born in this decade
Girls or boys?
Never flipped
  • The majority has never changed
all girlsall boys
Show by decade
DecadeBirthsBest rankAvg rank
1970s26#3,622 (1972)#4,383
1980s82#1,858 (1989)#4,614
1990s2,023#496 (1998)#1,211
2000s4,449#448 (2009)#543
2010s13,860#168 (2019)#294
2020s19,236#105 (2022)#114

All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.

River in 2017

girls
#270
1,181 births · 1 in 1,462 girls
boys
#200
1,969 births · 1 in 940 boys

Top girls' names in 2017

  1. #1Emma19,873
  2. #2Olivia18,778
  3. #3Ava16,017
  4. #4Isabella15,263
  5. #5Sophia14,947
  6. #6Mia13,521
  7. #7Charlotte12,969
  8. #8Amelia11,870
  9. #9Evelyn10,748
  10. #10Abigail10,645
  11. #270River1,181

Top boys' names in 2017

  1. #1Liam18,874
  2. #2Noah18,507
  3. #3William15,046
  4. #4James14,362
  5. #5Logan14,061
  6. #6Benjamin13,858
  7. #7Mason13,602
  8. #8Elijah13,449
  9. #9Jacob13,269
  10. #10Oliver13,224
  11. #200River1,969
More about 2017

girls

1,726,461 girls got a published name in 2017; 1 in 1,462 of them was named River, which outranked 98.5% of the 18,448 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 8.4% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).

Ranked beside River
  1. #267Evangeline1,199
  2. #268Thea1,193
  3. #269Blake1,185
  4. #270River1,181
  5. #271Amina1,180
  6. #272Lilah1,177
  7. #273Giselle1,176
Biggest movers since 2016
Risers
  1. 1,443Ensley#2,412#969
  2. 1,020Oaklynn#1,908#888
  3. 842Dream#1,667#825
  4. 749Oaklyn#1,425#676
  5. 717Melania#1,649#932
Fallers
  1. 263Julianne#919#1,182
  2. 243Milania#947#1,190
  3. 240Wendy#858#1,098
  4. 238Montserrat#808#1,046
  5. 224Nathaly#930#1,154

Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.

boys

1,850,956 boys got a published name in 2017; 1 in 940 of them was named River, which outranked 98.6% of the 14,262 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 8.0% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).

Ranked beside River
  1. #197Lorenzo2,004
  2. #198Messiah1,987
  3. #199Zion1,978
  4. #200River1,969
  5. #201Maximus1,964
  6. #202Zane1,962
  7. #203Mark1,948
Biggest movers since 2016
Risers
  1. 497Wells#1,413#916
  2. 419Kairo#1,221#802
  3. 339Caspian#1,199#860
  4. 313Colson#1,049#736
  5. 311Kace#1,183#872
Fallers
  1. 415Riaan#861#1,276
  2. 292Chevy#980#1,272
  3. 245Kylo#904#1,149
  4. 226Braeden#993#1,219
  5. 194Kamdyn#809#1,003

Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.

See the top 100 for 2017