Humanverse

Rileigh vs Rilyn

American parents have registered 3,882 Rileighs since 1880, against 1,434 Rilyns. But in 2025 it was Rilyn that was commoner, 37 babies to 25.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Rileigh against Rilyn, 1880 to 2025 0 60 120 180 240 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Rileigh Rilyn

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 35 years in which either name was published, Rileigh for 31 years and Rilyn for 4 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Rileigh Rilyn
Total US births 3,8821,434
Most in one year 226120
Babies in 2025 2537
Estimated living today 3,8001,400
Median age today 1711
Peak year 20092012
Best rank 1,146th girls1,955th girls
Rank in 2025 5,099th4,460th
First recorded 19911999
Girls / boys 3,832 / 501,279 / 155

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Rileighs alive today are over 17; half the Rilyns are over 11. That is 6 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Rileigh and Rilyn.