Riley

Riley is a baby name of Irish origin, meaning Courageous and valiant.

What Riley means

Courageous and valiant.

Riley sits at 5 letters, and ends on a consonant, which gives it a firmer stop.

Where Riley comes from

Irish names come from the Gaelic tradition, and most of the familiar spellings are anglicisations of older forms. The original often looks nothing like the version in common use today.

Riley is recorded as Irish in origin. Browse other Irish names.

How popular is Riley?

In the baby name rankings we track, Riley falls outside the top 100. That puts it in the broad middle ground where most names live: familiar to those who know it, uncommon enough to still feel like a choice.

The character of Riley

We group Riley under Brave. If that is the quality drawing you to it, the theme link below collects every other name we hold in the same group.

Themes: Brave

Names like Riley

These share Riley's themes, origin, or both — closest first.

  • Finn — Fair, white; the legendary hero Fionn.
  • Emerson — Son of Emery; brave.
  • Emery — Industrious ruler; brave.
  • Wilder — Untamed; of the wild.
  • Anders — Manly, brave.
  • Andreas — Manly, brave.
  • Everett — Brave as a wild boar.
  • Isamu — Courage, bravery.
  • Leonardo — Brave as a lion.
  • Richard — Brave ruler; strong in power.
  • Valentina — Strong, healthy, brave.
  • Wyatt — Brave in war.

More Irish names