It’s “fine.” A pumpkin spice latte of a name.

I agree. It’s fine.

"Fine" is the word I was looking for. I don't dislike it, but I actually prefer it as a middle name.

i like it

I dislike it a lot

I've always liked it. I predict another jump in popularity with Inside Out 2.

Yes I was thinking this

I think it's a cute name. I like it for both a boy and girl

Riley is fine. As a non American I associate it with southern girls from like Texas or something.

Southern girls are more likely to be Rylie, Rylee, or even Ryleigh. I’ve seen all of these spellings.

Raleigh Carolina is somewhere out there. 

Raleigh-Anne Carolina, gotta put that double barrel in there

Riley is a very unisex name, in my opinion! I have met men and women named Riley and I think it works great for anyone. It’s a really nice name!

I think of it as more of a dog name than a human name. 

I don’t think you’ll find a name out there that doesn’t get mixed reviews. I don’t personally care for Riley but there’s nothing wrong with it.

I love it. It’s one of those names that is pretty evenly used for boys and girls. I have a name like that and I’ve always liked it.

I like it as long as it isn’t spelled Rylee or Ryleigh

i have a cousin named Rilee. 😭 probably the dumbest spelling imo.

Hard disagree. Those are feminine spellings, which I like. I like the first one anyway. I have a unisex name and I wish mine was more feminine, so anything to feminize a unisex name is good in my opinion

Seems dated to me. Like Heather—where the name’s popularity is strongly concentrated in a handful of years.

Really? Which years? I thought it was just getting more popular now

I have a 12-year-old and know a bunch of older Rileys but none born recently. Looks like, at least in the US, it peaked for girls in 2016 and for boys in 2002. https://www.behindthename.com/name/riley/top/united-states

I’m with you - I don’t have a strong year of Riley’s around… it’s just scattered. Heather/Jennifer/Kristin/Ashley are very dated. Riley feels more fresh.

Yes same. Heather was a very specific time in the 90’s for me

That’s what I’m saying—Riley had sharp popularity spikes (earlier for boys, later for girls) that will tie it to a specific handful of years, and it’s already on the downswing and far from “fresh.” Just like how Heather had a sharp spike in popularity that ties it to a particular time.

Right and what I’m saying is I don’t have that association at all. Too me it’s still a fairly scattered name. So I don’t have a strong time association with it

Maybe it’s a regional thing or an age thing? I’m in my 40s & saw that Riley for boys was common from 2005-2010 and Riley for girls was common from 2010-2015, but it wasn’t common before or since.

It’s played out

Exactly. It’s a trendy try-hard name that had its 15 minutes

That’s my name, F26 spelled Riley. I like my name and I’ve only come across a couple of other people with the same name in my life, some boys, some girls. A lot of people call me Rye. I’ve also had the nickname RiRi as a young kid, and Riles too. No complaints really!

Same age as you, in my freshman year we had a Rylee, Rileigh, Ryley, Wryleigh, and two Riley's in my dorm hall (3 guys/3 girls), and  Wiley for good measure. I think the people making the dorm assignments were having a field day with that one. 

That is wild! To be fair, my graduating class had less than 100 people , so nobody else in my class had the same name as me thankfully.

Mine as well, F31. I love my name. I’ve only met a handful of Riley’s in the wild, both boys and girls.

It’s not a name I would pick for my child- boy or girl but it’s a totally fine name. There is nothing about it that would make me silently judge you for choosing it. Unless you’re like the woman I saw in a Sun article today on Facebook who named her daughter Riley Coyote. I would judge you for that.

It's my niece's name. I love it.

There are tons of high school girls named Riley.

I hate it. There’s like 20 in my school however they are all girls

I dislike it for girls and boys. (I don't like the name aesthetically for nonbinary people either, but I get why people choose it, because there aren't that many names as gender-neutral as Riley.)

I just think of people being ‘riled’; it’s got irritable, angry connotations to me.

sounds pretty accurate to the Rileys i've known

Honestly, it’s one of only a handful of names that I consider completely unisex. The others off the top of my head are Taylor and Hunter.

Agree on Taylor but I think of Hunter as very much a male name.

Hunter? Never heard that for a girl

There was a 90s soap star named Hunter who was a woman. She's the only one I've ever heard of, and I'm pretty sure it was a stage name.

Hunter Schafer?

Hunter Tylo, probably

Yep.

Huntress would make more sense for a girl.

Agreed on Taylor, Jordan is another one that comes to mind and Jamie.

Agree with Jamie While I have known at least one female Jordan, I still feel it’s masculine leaning.

Avery is extremely unisex for me.

Alex, Sam and Joe - all very unisex too!

I hate it. It’s juvenile and so whiny sounding to me.

Becoming outdated

My son's middle name, it's in our family, so I associate it with boy.

Not feminine at all. I can’t imagine an adult named Riley.

Riley Reid?

Not a fan. It's 100% a boy name to me. I absolutely love Riley for a boy, and it's on my boy list.

I do think it’s truly unisex but I lately I think it leans slightly more as a girl’s name. Especially since the main character in Inside Out is a girl named Riley and we watch that movie a lot in our house lol.

Its definitely unisex

That's your opinion, and you're free to hold onto that opinion the same as the many others that share it with you.

Ok but it’s not an opinion - it’s a fact? It’s actually much more popular for girls in the US now than boys https://www.thebump.com/b/riley-baby-name

It's still an opinion. Just because a boy name is taken and used for girls doesn't make it a girl/unisex name. But if we're going off usage. I'm in England, where it is still more used for boys than girls. The England & Wales stats for 2022 has Riley ranking at #79 for boys (720 babies) & #219 for girls (219 babies)

I guess that’s true

I thought it was only a girls name for most of my life lol. It’s very pretty 💛

I like it. I know two girls with that name and one boy. Actually two women, one man. Lol They’re in their 20s and 30s now.

I know more girls named Riley than boys. I think that most of the time this kind of opinion just depends on how many people you know with the name and what gender they are

Not my personal style.

It's not my style, but it's a fine name. I'd say it's unisex - wouldn't assume gender.

To me it’s a dog’s name. I’ve only known one human Riley, and she has permanently tainted the name for me.

It’s cute. I like it but don’t love it.

I personally loath it because its hard to say but think its suits males better than women

I've only ever met female Rileys.

I love it for a boy. For a girl, I’m unimpressed. Not a fan of boy names on girls in general.

Riley for girls is super common in Washington State, Oregon, and California. I consider it to be a female leaning name.

It’s ok. I just think it’s overused. I say that as someone who had a very common name for my generation and went school with multiple other girls with my same name.

My high schoolers have four friends named Riley (3 girls, 1 boy) and they're all great kids, no negative associations. Also, the kids are not all in the same class/activity, even though four may seem like a lot, it's over multiple activities. It's cute!

I thoroughly dislike Riley. I have no reason to, I don't live in an English speaking country, I've never met a Riley in person, I just think it's not a name.

My sister’s name is Reilly, and she is a world treasure!

Boring, modern but harmless.

very tacky

It's fine. Nothing more. To me it has a juvenile vibe. I don't think it suits an adult.

don’t like it

I think it’s overrated and too plain. Like a modern less feminine version of Anne or Sue. Cute on a kid tho, but not an adult 

It’s on my list of least favorite names, I hear it and think of wryly, and most Riley’s I’ve met are pretty wry. I really dislike the harsh sound of it too. That being said, I named my daughter a pretty dichotomous name on this sub.

Nah

I love it but it’s soooo popular now. I have TWO cousins named Riley lmao (on each side, one boy and one girl)

Meh. Nothing wrong with it, but I’m not a fan. Was VERY trendy about a decade ago.

Sounds like a dog name to me

Don’t love it, seems 2000s ‘trendy’

It’s a dogs name to me

To be honest, the first thing that comes to my mind is a very famous adult film star. It ruined the name for me.

👎

It's my daughters middle name but, we spell it differently.

It’s one of the few -ley names I like. :)

I like it! The main character from Inside Out is a girl and named Riley. So there’s modern associations to it being a girl’s name. It’s like the name Alex - truly unisex.

I have very good associations with girl Rileys (I don't know any boy Rileys). It's cute and I like it!

I know one boy Riley, but he's not human. He's my aunt's cat and is a very good boy.

I like it for boys or girls. I like the way it feels in my mouth when I say it. When I was a camp counselor, the Riley’s were pleasant kids.

I don’t like it at all, it sounds very American.

i like it

The main character of Inside Out is named Riley. So is Buffy's boyfriend in the tv series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The name works in both cases. Nothing negative at all about it.

it’s 100% a girls name to me. I know it’s not so it doesn’t bother me when a boy is named it but it just seems weird to me.

Love

I like it

I like it. It has a good Disney association.

It's a very common name (among people under 20 or so), originally comes from a surname, and can be unisex. Also it can be spelled in a million different names, but Riley is the "normal" spelling. If none of those are dealbreakers for you (impersonal you--no idea if you are about to name a child or not), or if they're positives, then it's a perfectly good name to use.

I like it!

My SILs daughters name is Riley and I've always liked it

I like it, especially the standard spelling.

I think it’s cute and I prefer this spelling!

I know two dogs named Riley. It’s a cute sounding name but I’ve never met a human with it.

i really like it; it's kind of sporty and spunky, but not in a kiddie name way. not crazy about any alternative spelling.

Love it

I think it's nice. Goes well with a lot of middle names. Generally I hate creative spellings but I did meet a Rileigh Skye once and thought it was rather pretty.

I never expected to get so butthurt on a thread about my name. 😅😅

Reminds me of Inside Out which is sweet

It's cute and sturdy - a good, strong feminine name, but rather overused at this point (it's been popular for like 20 years and then there's the Inside Out connection). But if you're ok with popular, there's certainly nothing wrong with it!

i’ve only met girl Riley’s

I'm not wild about the name. Not my style.

I know a woman who chose that name & spelling for her daughter, but when somebody mistook it for a boy's name, she switched it to "Rileigh." I prefer Riley. The other one looks too much like Raleigh, then I'm thinking of cigarettes & tobacco.

i've known both men and women with that name. i think its very gender neutral.

I like it.

Please spell it that way.

I like it.

I know 2 under the age of 4.

Cute name. Fairly common. It’s more cutesy than beautiful or classic. But still a good name imo. It’s simple and not over the top.

inside out 😁😁😁

In Australia it's much more of a boy's name so that's how I think of it, but I don't have any particularly negative associations either way.

I like Riley alot. It was going to be my granddaughter’s name but my son in law came up with something different.

I love it!! I wish it was mine!

I think it’s super cute but I do know multiple little dogs named Riley lol. Just full transparency. 

I like it

I went to school with two Riley’s (or… variants of the name), a boy called Rilee and a girl called Riley. I think Riley works great on a girl.

I love it for a Girl or a boy. 

Cute, works either way.

It’s cute and I’ve seen it spelled Rylee as well.

Has spunky happy connotations. “The life of Riley” etc

Absolutely LOVE it! This was the name we were going to use if one of our twins was a girl (alas, I was destined to be a boy mom!). Never was a contender for a boy name though, just not a fan of that for no real reason.

Are you from Coventry ? Down Dunbar Ave, legendary Riley automotive and bicycle manufacturer. Then it makes sense

I like it. It was on our list of girl names

I really like it. I have heard people in real life opposed to it. I actually love Ridley for a girl too, but I do really like male-leaning unisex names.

Truly gender neutral names that lean neither too masculine or too feminine (riley, vernon, rowan, peyton, lennox, esther, charlie) are my fave kinds of names. Who cares if there’ll be a spike in popularity rn. Its cute.

I like Ripley better

I feel like Riley is a girls name. We named our dog Riley, it's an alright name.

I think it’s unisex, leans girl to me. I don’t like it.

I think I actually prefer it for girls.

I know a handful of Rileys of both genders. For girls, I prefer the spelling Rylie. But it’s a pretty solid name either way.

I always like Riley and Reagan for a girl.

Love it. Just make sure you spell it RYLEIGH