How popular is the baby name River in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name River.

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Popularity of the baby name River


Posts that mention the name River

Top names for baby boys, letter by letter, in 2024

First letters of baby boy names in 2024 (U.S.)

The most common first letter for baby boy names last year was J (used 10.7% of the time), followed by A (10.5%) and L (7.5%).

The least common first letter was Q (used 0.1% of the time), followed by U (0.2%) and X (0.4%).

So, what were the most popular boy names of 2024 within each letter group?

Top boy names starting with A:

  1. Asher
  2. Alexander
  3. Anthony
  4. Aiden
  5. Angel

Top boy names starting with B:

  1. Benjamin
  2. Bennett
  3. Brooks
  4. Beau
  5. Bryson

Top boy names starting with C:

  1. Carter
  2. Caleb
  3. Cooper
  4. Charles
  5. Christopher

Top boy names starting with D:

  1. Daniel
  2. Dylan
  3. David
  4. Dominic
  5. Damian

Top boy names starting with E:

  1. Elijah
  2. Ezra
  3. Ethan
  4. Elias
  5. Ezekiel

Top boy names starting with F:

  1. Felix
  2. Finn
  3. Finley
  4. Francisco
  5. Fernando

Top boy names starting with G:

  1. Gabriel
  2. Grayson
  3. Gael
  4. Giovanni
  5. George

Top boy names starting with H:

  1. Henry
  2. Hudson
  3. Harrison
  4. Hunter
  5. Hayden

Top boy names starting with I:

  1. Isaac
  2. Isaiah
  3. Ian
  4. Ivan
  5. Ismael

Top boy names starting with J:

  1. James
  2. Jack
  3. John
  4. Julian
  5. Joseph

Top boy names starting with K:

  1. Kai
  2. Kayden
  3. Kingston
  4. Kevin
  5. Kaiden

Top boy names starting with L:

  1. Liam
  2. Lucas
  3. Levi
  4. Luca
  5. Leo

Top boy names starting with M:

  1. Mateo
  2. Michael
  3. Matthew
  4. Maverick
  5. Miles

(Mason, which ranked third in 2023, dropped to sixth last year.)

Top boy names starting with N:

  1. Noah
  2. Nathan
  3. Nolan
  4. Nicholas
  5. Nathaniel

Top boy names starting with O:

  1. Oliver
  2. Owen
  3. Oscar
  4. Omar
  5. Otto

Top boy names starting with P:

  1. Parker
  2. Peter
  3. Patrick
  4. Paul
  5. Phoenix

Top boy names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn
  2. Quincy
  3. Quentin
  4. Quinton
  5. Quintin

Top boy names starting with R:

  1. Roman
  2. Rowan
  3. Ryan
  4. Robert
  5. River

Top boy names starting with S:

  1. Sebastian
  2. Samuel
  3. Santiago
  4. Silas
  5. Sawyer

Top boy names starting with T:

  1. Theodore
  2. Thomas
  3. Thiago
  4. Theo
  5. Tyler

Top boy names starting with U:

  1. Uriel
  2. Uriah
  3. Ulises
  4. Umar
  5. Ulysses

Top boy names starting with V:

  1. Vincent
  2. Victor
  3. Valentino
  4. Vicente
  5. Vincenzo

Top boy names starting with W:

  1. William
  2. Wyatt
  3. Wesley
  4. Waylon
  5. Weston

Top boy names starting with X:

  1. Xavier
  2. Xander
  3. Xzavier
  4. Xavi
  5. Xyleek

(Xyleek debuted impressively in the data last year.)

Top boy names starting with Y:

  1. Yusuf
  2. Yosef
  3. Yahya
  4. Yehuda
  5. Yahir

Top boy names starting with Z:

  1. Zion
  2. Zachary
  3. Zayden
  4. Zayn
  5. Zyaire

Source: SSA

Popular and unique baby names in Sonoma County (California), 2024

Flag of California
Flag of California

Last year, the California county of Sonoma welcomed about 2,500 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Liam for boys and a three-way tie between Amelia, Camila, and Mia for girls.

Here are Sonoma’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Amelia, 13 baby girls (3-way tie)
  2. Camila, 13 (3-way tie)
  3. Mia, 13 (3-way tie)
  4. Emma, 12
  5. Charlotte, 11
  6. Luna, 10 (tie)
  7. Scarlett, 10 (tie)
  8. Charlie, 8 (6-way tie)
  9. Elena, 8 (6-way tie)
  10. Eliana, 8 (6-way tie)
  11. Gianna, 8 (6-way tie)
  12. Lucy, 8 (6-way tie)
  13. Valentina, 8 (6-way tie)
  14. Grace, 7 (9-way tie)
  15. Isabella, 7 (9-way tie)
  16. Isla, 7 (9-way tie)
  17. Lucia, 7 (9-way tie)
  18. Madison, 7 (9-way tie)
  19. Maya, 7 (9-way tie)
  20. Natalia, 7 (9-way tie)
  21. Quinn, 7 (9-way tie)
  22. Sophia, 7 (9-way tie)
  23. Ava, 6 (15-way tie)
  24. Ella, 6 (15-way tie)
  25. Evelyn, 6 (15-way tie)
  26. Hazel, 6 (15-way tie)
  27. Layla, 6 (15-way tie)
  28. Leah, 6 (15-way tie)
  29. Lillian, 6 (15-way tie)
  30. Olivia, 6 (15-way tie)
  31. Riley, 6 (15-way tie)
  32. River, 6 (15-way tie)
  33. Ruby, 6 (15-way tie)
  34. Sofia, 6 (15-way tie)
  35. Victoria, 6 (15-way tie)
  36. Violet, 6 (15-way tie)
  37. Willow, 6 (15-way tie)
  38. Amari, 5 (7-way tie)
  39. Genesis, 5 (7-way tie)
  40. Hannah, 5 (7-way tie)
  41. Harper, 5 (7-way tie)
  42. Itzel, 5 (7-way tie)
  43. Penelope, 5 (7-way tie)
  44. Sophie, 5 (7-way tie)
  45. Amaya, 4 (19-way tie)
  46. Ariel, 4 (19-way tie)
  47. Athena, 4 (19-way tie)
  48. Aubrey, 4 (19-way tie)
  49. Cecilia, 4 (19-way tie)
  50. Emery, 4 (19-way tie)
  51. Georgia, 4 (19-way tie)
  52. Hadley, 4 (19-way tie)
  53. Jade, 4 (19-way tie)
  54. Josephine, 4 (19-way tie)
  55. Kimberly, 4 (19-way tie)
  56. Leilani, 4 (19-way tie)
  57. Lia, 4 (19-way tie)
  58. Lily, 4 (19-way tie)
  59. Maeve, 4 (19-way tie)
  60. Mila, 4 (19-way tie)
  61. Nevaeh, 4 (19-way tie)
  62. Sienna, 4 (19-way tie)
  63. Zoey, 4 (19-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Liam, 22 baby boys
  2. Sebastian, 17
  3. Noah, 14
  4. James, 13 (tie)
  5. Santiago, 13 (tie)
  6. Dylan, 12 (tie)
  7. Mateo, 12 (tie)
  8. Damian, 11 (tie)
  9. Luca, 11 (tie)
  10. Ivan, 10 (3-way tie)
  11. Julian, 10 (3-way tie)
  12. Leo, 10 (3-way tie)
  13. Ethan, 9 (5-way tie)
  14. Mason, 9 (5-way tie)
  15. Miles, 9 (5-way tie)
  16. Theodore, 9 (5-way tie)
  17. William, 9 (5-way tie)
  18. Angel, 8 (3-way tie)
  19. Christian, 8 (3-way tie)
  20. Lucas, 8 (3-way tie)
  21. Adriel, 7 (9-way tie)
  22. Asher, 7 (9-way tie)
  23. Emiliano, 7 (9-way tie)
  24. Hudson, 7 (9-way tie)
  25. Jackson, 7 (9-way tie)
  26. John, 7 (9-way tie)
  27. Joshua, 7 (9-way tie)
  28. Levi, 7 (9-way tie)
  29. Logan, 7 (9-way tie)
  30. Benjamin, 6 (9-way tie)
  31. Cameron, 6 (9-way tie)
  32. Emilio, 6 (9-way tie)
  33. Henry, 6 (9-way tie)
  34. Jaxon, 6 (9-way tie)
  35. Jesus, 6 (9-way tie)
  36. Jonathan, 6 (9-way tie)
  37. Lorenzo, 6 (9-way tie)
  38. Roman, 6 (9-way tie)
  39. Adrian, 5 (19-way tie)
  40. Alejandro, 5 (19-way tie)
  41. Bodhi, 5 (19-way tie)
  42. Cooper, 5 (19-way tie)
  43. David, 5 (19-way tie)
  44. Dean, 5 (19-way tie)
  45. Diego, 5 (19-way tie)
  46. Javier, 5 (19-way tie)
  47. Leonardo, 5 (19-way tie)
  48. Luke, 5 (19-way tie)
  49. Matteo, 5 (19-way tie)
  50. Michael, 5 (19-way tie)
  51. Milan, 5 (19-way tie)
  52. Oliver, 5 (19-way tie)
  53. Owen, 5 (19-way tie)
  54. Ryan, 5 (19-way tie)
  55. Ryder, 5 (19-way tie)
  56. Waylon, 5 (19-way tie)
  57. Wyatt, 5 (19-way tie)

And here’s a sampling of the many names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Alitzel, Brithany, Clary, Daylin, Erandi, Frida, Gielah, Hera, Iana, Janellie, Kalia, Leeba, Marbie, Nevayla, Olema, Ponderosa, Quincy, Roshi, Salacia, Souvenir, Spider Gwen, Trillium, Upsana, Vaila, Wilma, Xiamara, Yanis, ZulaAiram, Branimir, Cinco, Court, Divaldo, Dorje, Essiel, Fidel, Gabino, Heriberto, Isai, Jesiah, Kipono, Laszlo, Macklin, Nelson, Ove, Percival, Quinlan, Rifton, Sylo, Tanjiro, Uriah, Viliamu, Wiley, Xiveer, Yariel, Zaelyn

Some possible explanations/influences for a few of the above:

  • Airam is “Maria” spelled backwards.
  • Cinco is the Spanish word for “five.”
  • Dorje is a Tibetan name that refers to a diamond, a thunderbolt, “or an indestructible phenomenon.” (Its literal translation is “lord of stone.”)
  • Erandi is the Purépecha word for “dawn.”
  • Ponderosa is a type of North American pine tree (Pinus ponderosa). The name refers to the tree’s heavy (or “ponderous”) wood.
  • Salacia was the Roman goddess of saltwater. Her name is based on sal, the Latin word for “salt.”
  • Spider-Gwen is the fan-created nickname of comic book character Spider-Woman (a.k.a. Gwen Stacy).
  • Trillium is a type of flower with three petals and three sepals.
  • Viliamu is the Samoan form of William.

Finally, here are Sonoma’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)

Baby name story: Alexis Olympia

Tennis player Serena Williams
Serena Williams

In September of 2017, tennis player Serena Williams — winner of 23 Grand Slam women’s singles titles and four Olympic gold medals — and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, welcomed a baby girl.

Her name?

Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr.

“Alexis” was passed down from her father, “Olympia” is a nod to her mother, and the initials “A.O.” are a reference to the 2017 Australian Open, which Serena won (by defeating her older sister, Venus, in the women’s singles final) when she was approximately 2 months pregnant.

The couple’s second child, another baby girl, was born in August of 2023 and named Adira River.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Williams S. RG18 (17) by si.robi under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Most popular baby boy names (letter by letter) in the U.S. in 2023

First letter usage for baby boy names in the U.S. in 2023

Going letter by letter, what were last year’s most popular baby boy names?

Before we get to the lists, a few quick facts:

  • The most common first letter for boy names in 2023 was J (used 10.98% of the time), followed by A (10.51%) and M (7.60%).
  • The least common first letter for boy names in 2023 was U (used 0.15% of the time), followed by Q (0.16%) and X (0.40%).
  • The first letter that increased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was T.
  • The first letter that decreased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was J.

Top boy names starting with A:

  1. Alexander, 7,875 baby boys
  2. Asher, 7,853
  3. Aiden, 6,675
  4. Anthony, 6,237
  5. Angel, 4,865
  6. Andrew, 4,781
  7. Adrian, 4,646
  8. Aaron, 4,551
  9. Axel, 4,498
  10. Amir, 3,620

Top boy names starting with B:

  1. Benjamin, 10,172 baby boys
  2. Brooks, 4,469
  3. Bennett, 4,411
  4. Beau, 4,090
  5. Bryson, 2,434
  6. Brayden, 2,274
  7. Braxton, 2,128
  8. Bentley, 1,906
  9. Beckett, 1,865
  10. Beckham, 1,829

Top boy names starting with C:

  1. Carter, 5,847 baby boys
  2. Caleb, 5,488
  3. Cooper, 5,425
  4. Charles, 5,395
  5. Christopher, 5,171
  6. Cameron, 5,069
  7. Christian, 4,125
  8. Colton, 3,696
  9. Carson, 3,200
  10. Connor, 2,855

Top boy names starting with D:

  1. Daniel, 8,356 baby boys
  2. David, 7,354
  3. Dylan, 7,054
  4. Dominic, 3,395
  5. Damian, 3,281
  6. Declan, 2,799
  7. Diego, 2,734
  8. Dawson, 2,439
  9. Dean, 2,281
  10. Dallas, 1,375

Top boy names starting with E:

  1. Elijah, 11,452 baby boys
  2. Ezra, 8,437
  3. Ethan, 7,763
  4. Elias, 6,980
  5. Ezekiel, 5,569
  6. Eli, 4,081
  7. Everett, 3,808
  8. Enzo, 3,796
  9. Easton, 3,637
  10. Emmett, 3,061

Top boy names starting with F:

  1. Finn, 1,907 baby boys
  2. Felix, 1,894
  3. Finley, 1,171
  4. Francisco, 1,121
  5. Fernando, 967
  6. Franklin, 776
  7. Forrest, 737
  8. Francis, 670
  9. Fabian, 656
  10. Frank, 646

Top boy names starting with G:

  1. Gabriel, 6,745 baby boys
  2. Grayson, 6,449
  3. Gael, 3,616
  4. Greyson, 3,065
  5. Giovanni, 2,911
  6. George, 2,689
  7. Graham, 2,533
  8. Griffin, 1,722
  9. Grant, 1,539
  10. Gavin, 1,512

Top boy names starting with H:

  1. Henry, 10,941 baby boys
  2. Hudson, 7,935
  3. Hunter, 3,110
  4. Harrison, 3,060
  5. Hayden, 2,219
  6. Hayes, 1,746
  7. Holden, 1,171
  8. Hendrix, 1,084
  9. Harvey, 1,022
  10. Hector, 828

Top boy names starting with I:

  1. Isaac, 6,581 baby boys
  2. Isaiah, 5,121
  3. Ian, 4,538
  4. Ivan, 2,384
  5. Israel, 1,530
  6. Ismael, 1,421
  7. Iker, 915
  8. Ibrahim, 774
  9. Isaias, 700
  10. Izaiah, 491

Top boy names starting with J:

  1. James, 11,670 baby boys
  2. Jack, 8,683
  3. John, 7,750
  4. Jackson, 7,284
  5. Joseph, 7,237
  6. Julian, 7,078
  7. Jacob, 6,976
  8. Jayden, 5,627
  9. Josiah, 5,404
  10. Joshua, 5,035

Top boy names starting with K:

  1. Kai, 4,946 baby boys
  2. Kayden, 3,120
  3. Kingston, 2,511
  4. Kaiden, 2,126
  5. Kevin, 1,914
  6. Knox, 1,770
  7. Karter, 1,590
  8. Kairo, 1,484
  9. Kyrie, 1,474
  10. Kash, 1,316

Top boy names starting with L:

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 10,842
  3. Levi, 9,347
  4. Leo, 8,120
  5. Luca, 7,770
  6. Luke, 7,217
  7. Logan, 6,686
  8. Lincoln, 4,842
  9. Leonardo, 4,012
  10. Luka, 3,650

Top boy names starting with M:

  1. Mateo, 11,229 baby boys
  2. Michael, 8,383
  3. Mason, 7,237
  4. Matthew, 7,190
  5. Maverick, 6,962
  6. Miles, 6,558
  7. Micah, 3,875
  8. Myles, 3,399
  9. Milo, 2,950
  10. Matteo, 2,503

Top boy names starting with N:

  1. Noah, 18,995 baby boys
  2. Nolan, 5,112
  3. Nathan, 5,049
  4. Nicholas, 3,242
  5. Nathaniel, 2,507
  6. Nicolas, 1,886
  7. Nico, 1,462
  8. Nash, 1,328
  9. Niko, 1,033
  10. Nasir, 739

Top boy names starting with O:

  1. Oliver, 14,741 baby boys
  2. Owen, 7,985
  3. Oscar, 1,693
  4. Omar, 1,306
  5. Otto, 1,191
  6. Onyx, 1,069
  7. Odin, 897
  8. Orion, 861
  9. Oakley, 799
  10. Ozzy, 526

Top boy names starting with P:

  1. Parker, 3,792 baby boys
  2. Peter, 1,738
  3. Patrick, 1,596
  4. Paul, 1,351 (tie)
  5. Paxton, 1,351 (tie)
  6. Phoenix, 1,243
  7. Preston, 1,228
  8. Prince, 885
  9. Pablo, 850
  10. Pedro, 753

Top boy names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn, 685 baby boys
  2. Quincy, 401
  3. Quentin, 334
  4. Quinton, 301
  5. Quintin, 120
  6. Quinten, 88
  7. Quest, 84
  8. Quadir, 70
  9. Quade, 53
  10. Qasim, 51

Top boy names starting with R:

  1. Roman, 4,777 baby boys
  2. Rowan, 4,195
  3. Ryan, 4,020
  4. Robert, 3,807
  5. River, 3,084
  6. Ryder, 2,822
  7. Rhett, 2,183
  8. Ryker, 1,976
  9. Richard, 1,638
  10. Riley, 1,627

Top boy names starting with S:

  1. Sebastian, 8,865 baby boys
  2. Samuel, 7,973
  3. Santiago, 6,328
  4. Silas, 4,070
  5. Sawyer, 2,833
  6. Stetson, 1,987
  7. Simon, 1,398
  8. Steven, 1,387
  9. Saint, 1,059
  10. Sonny, 924

Top boy names starting with T:

  1. Theodore, 11,041 baby boys
  2. Thomas, 6,598
  3. Thiago, 4,505
  4. Theo, 4,122
  5. Tyler, 2,064
  6. Tate, 1,845
  7. Tucker, 1,802
  8. Timothy, 1,733
  9. Tatum, 1,492
  10. Tristan, 1,373

Top boy names starting with U:

  1. Uriel, 606 baby boys
  2. Uriah, 378
  3. Ulises, 221
  4. Ulysses, 169
  5. Umar, 152
  6. Uziel, 111
  7. Usman, 86
  8. Unknown, 67
  9. Uzziah, 65
  10. Uri, 60

Top boy names starting with V:

  1. Vincent, 2,982 baby boys
  2. Victor, 1,687
  3. Valentino, 575
  4. Vicente, 441
  5. Valentin, 372
  6. Vincenzo, 352
  7. Vihaan, 280
  8. Van, 252
  9. Vance, 236
  10. Veer, 224

Top boy names starting with W:

  1. William, 10,598 baby boys
  2. Wyatt, 6,237
  3. Waylon, 4,881
  4. Wesley, 4,539
  5. Weston, 4,356
  6. Walker, 4,006
  7. Walter, 1,272
  8. Warren, 1,080
  9. Wade, 971
  10. Winston, 797

Top boy names starting with X:

  1. Xavier, 3,413 baby boys
  2. Xander, 1,700
  3. Xzavier, 153
  4. Xavi, 118
  5. Xavion, 111
  6. Xaiden, 101
  7. Xavien, 94
  8. Xavian, 91
  9. Xion, 85
  10. Xayden, 65

Top boy names starting with Y:

  1. Yusuf, 610 baby boys
  2. Yosef, 444
  3. Yael, 328
  4. Yehuda, 318
  5. Yousef, 297
  6. Yahir, 290
  7. Yahya, 263
  8. Yadiel, 242
  9. Yaakov, 231
  10. Yisroel, 228

Top boy names starting with Z:

  1. Zion, 2,867 baby boys
  2. Zachary, 2,112
  3. Zayden, 1,898
  4. Zayn, 1,413
  5. Zane, 1,220
  6. Zyaire, 1,029
  7. Zander, 924
  8. Zayne, 717
  9. Zaire, 654
  10. Zaiden, 567

Source: SSA