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
- Peak · boys
- 2022 · 3,500 births
- Debut · boys
- 6 births
- In top 100 · boys
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 39,676since 1971
River over time
Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #219 | 1,401 | #111 | 3,139 |
| 2024 | #215 | 1,442 | #112 | 3,160 |
| 2023 | #192 | 1,587 | #116 | 3,117 |
| 2022 | #150 | 1,930 | #105 | 3,500 |
| 2021 | #149 | 1,886 | #110 | 3,504 |
| 2020 | #184 | 1,562 | #129 | 2,816 |
| 2019 | #211 | 1,441 | #168 | 2,371 |
| 2018 | #244 | 1,333 | #197 | 2,078 |
| 2017 | #270 | 1,181 | #200 | 1,969 |
| 2016 | #283 | 1,132 | #212 | 1,852 |
| 2015 | #348 | 951 | #243 | 1,516 |
| 2014 | #453 | 708 | #287 | 1,243 |
| 2013 | #585 | 488 | #371 | 830 |
| 2012 | #683 | 412 | #403 | 722 |
| 2011 | #891 | 293 | #424 | 645 |
| 2010 | #973 | 262 | #432 | 634 |
| 2009 | #949 | 281 | #448 | 619 |
| 2008 | #1,049 | 249 | #454 | 611 |
| 2007 | #1,129 | 229 | #553 | 464 |
| 2006 | #1,295 | 181 | #513 | 505 |
| 2005 | #2,030 | 92 | #517 | 476 |
| 2004 | #1,883 | 100 | #549 | 420 |
| 2003 | #2,321 | 72 | #570 | 388 |
| 2002 | #2,379 | 67 | #610 | 329 |
| 2001 | #2,236 | 72 | #607 | 323 |
| 2000 | #2,817 | 51 | #611 | 314 |
| 1999 | #2,567 | 55 | #559 | 359 |
| 1998 | #2,570 | 53 | #496 | 435 |
| 1997 | #2,733 | 45 | #518 | 389 |
| 1996 | #3,237 | 36 | #632 | 269 |
| 1995 | #4,099 | 25 | #619 | 278 |
| 1994 | #7,097 | 12 | #924 | 141 |
| 1993 | #7,038 | 12 | #1,638 | 54 |
| 1992 | #10,479 | 7 | #2,085 | 37 |
| 1991 | #6,976 | 12 | #2,469 | 28 |
| 1990 | #7,880 | 10 | #2,170 | 33 |
| 1989 | — | #1,858 | 40 | |
| 1988 | #11,798 | 5 | #3,705 | 13 |
| 1987 | — | #3,521 | 13 | |
| 1986 | — | #6,721 | 5 | |
| 1985 | — | — | ||
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| 1983 | — | — | ||
| 1982 | — | #5,619 | 6 | |
| 1981 | — | #6,262 | 5 | |
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| 1976 | — | — | ||
| 1975 | — | #4,309 | 7 | |
| 1974 | — | #5,227 | 5 | |
| 1973 | — | — | ||
| 1972 | — | #3,622 | 8 | |
| 1971 | — | #4,375 | 6 | |
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| 1880 | — | — | ||
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.
Where River is popular in 2017
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- Oklahoma#84 · 1 in 328
- Alabama#89 · 1 in 352
- West Virginia#92 · 1 in 326
- Arkansas#93 · 1 in 335
- Tennessee#96 · 1 in 403
Best ever in a state: #20 in West Virginia, 2024.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | #84 | 59 | 1 in 328 |
| Alabama | #89 | 65 | 1 in 352 |
| West Virginia | #92 | 23 | 1 in 326 |
| Arkansas | #93 | 41 | 1 in 335 |
| Tennessee | #96 | 90 | 1 in 403 |
| Louisiana | #104 | 58 | 1 in 411 |
| South Dakota | #107 | 12 | 1 in 328 |
| Oregon | #116 | 41 | 1 in 424 |
| Kentucky | #130 | 44 | 1 in 492 |
| South Carolina | #140 | 39 | 1 in 538 |
| Washington | #143 | 61 | 1 in 583 |
| Montana | #145 | 9 | 1 in 403 |
| New Mexico | #150 | 15 | 1 in 540 |
| North Carolina | #154 | 79 | 1 in 650 |
| Alaska | #155 | 7 | 1 in 433 |
| Idaho | #165 | 15 | 1 in 527 |
| Missouri | #165 | 48 | 1 in 638 |
| Georgia | #166 | 76 | 1 in 706 |
| Utah | #167 | 33 | 1 in 616 |
| Colorado | #169 | 41 | 1 in 645 |
| Indiana | #169 | 52 | 1 in 663 |
| Maine | #170 | 8 | 1 in 534 |
| Mississippi | #173 | 22 | 1 in 606 |
| Iowa | #182 | 22 | 1 in 675 |
| Ohio | #192 | 72 | 1 in 811 |
| Virginia | #208 | 45 | 1 in 906 |
| North Dakota | #210 | 6 | 1 in 675 |
| Wisconsin | #211 | 31 | 1 in 838 |
| Kansas | #215 | 19 | 1 in 792 |
| Florida | #217 | 95 | 1 in 1,018 |
| Nebraska | #217 | 13 | 1 in 751 |
| Nevada | #219 | 16 | 1 in 820 |
| California | #230 | 207 | 1 in 1,042 |
| Texas | #237 | 169 | 1 in 1,042 |
| Arizona | #239 | 36 | 1 in 962 |
| Illinois | #239 | 58 | 1 in 1,068 |
| Michigan | #247 | 41 | 1 in 1,132 |
| Pennsylvania | #276 | 41 | 1 in 1,420 |
| Minnesota | #286 | 22 | 1 in 1,231 |
| Maryland | #294 | 19 | 1 in 1,395 |
| Massachusetts | #328 | 15 | 1 in 1,921 |
| Connecticut | #334 | 8 | 1 in 1,756 |
| New York | #337 | 53 | 1 in 1,841 |
| New Jersey | #383 | 19 | 1 in 2,150 |
| Delaware | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | — | — | — |
| Rhode Island | — | — | — |
| Vermont | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about River
- 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)
- Debuted 1971
- Peaked 2022 at #105 (3,500 births)
- Not yet halved from its peak
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 32 yrs · run 1994–2025
- Highest: 1 in 499 boys born in 2022 were named River (0.20%)
- Latest: 1 in 544 boys born in 2025 (0.18%)
- 48.5% of all boys named River (19,236) were born in this decade
- The majority has never changed
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 26 | #3,622 (1972) | #4,383 |
| 1980s | 82 | #1,858 (1989) | #4,614 |
| 1990s | 2,023 | #496 (1998) | #1,211 |
| 2000s | 4,449 | #448 (2009) | #543 |
| 2010s | 13,860 | #168 (2019) | #294 |
| 2020s | 19,236 | #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
Top girls' names in 2017
Top boys' names in 2017
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).
- ↓ 263Julianne#919 → #1,182
- ↓ 243Milania#947 → #1,190
- ↓ 240Wendy#858 → #1,098
- ↓ 238Montserrat#808 → #1,046
- ↓ 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).
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.