Humanverse

Riva vs Riverlynn

American parents have registered 1,619 Rivas since 1880, against 845 Riverlynns. But in 2025 it was Riverlynn that was commoner, 102 babies to 41.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Riva against Riverlynn, 1880 to 2025 0 50 100 150 200 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Riva Riverlynn

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 99 years in which either name was published, Riva for 91 years and Riverlynn for 8 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Riva Riverlynn
Total US births 1,619845
Most in one year 57190
Babies in 2025 41102
Estimated living today 1,400840
Median age today 293
Peak year 20232022
Best rank 2,936th girls1,259th girls
Rank in 2025 3,645th1,902nd
First recorded 19102014
Girls / boys 1,619 / 0845 / 0

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 Rivas alive today are over 29; half the Riverlynns are over 3. That is 26 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: Riva and Riverlynn.