Rylea
Variant of the Scottish name Riley, meaning "rye meadow" or "from the rye field."
Name Census estimates that about 1,075 living Americans carry the first name Rylea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rylea today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rylea births was 2008 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rylea. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rylea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 318,841 Americans
Peak year
2008
73 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,165
Tracked since 1991
Census
Rylea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 955 people with the first name Rylea, which placed it at #12,842 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,842
National first-name rank
People counted
955
955 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rylea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rylea is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rylea described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rylea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.1% · 794
- Two or more races5.7% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 48
- Black or African American3.5% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 10
Popularity
Rylea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rylea from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 500 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rylea by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rylea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ryleas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, Missouri, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Rylea, while Kentucky, Kansas, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rylea
The name Rylea is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from a combination of the more traditional names Riley and Leah. Its origins can be traced back to the English and Hebrew languages.
Riley is an English surname that originated as a variant of the Old English given name Ralliah, which means "courageous" or "brave." It was initially used as a masculine name but has gained popularity as a unisex name in recent decades.
Leah, on the other hand, is a Hebrew name meaning "weary" or "tired." It has biblical roots and is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as one of the wives of Jacob and the mother of six of the twelve tribes of Israel.
While the name Rylea itself does not have a long historical lineage, its components have been around for centuries. The earliest recorded use of the name Rylea seems to date back to the late 20th century, likely as a creative combination of the two established names.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who have borne names similar to Rylea's components. For instance, Riley Darnell (born 1952) is an American former professional baseball player, and Leah Remini (born 1970) is an American actress best known for her role in the sitcom "The King of Queens."
Additionally, Rylea may have been inspired by the name Ryleigh, which has gained popularity in recent years. Ryleigh is a variant spelling of the name Riley and has been used as a feminine name since the late 20th century.
While the name Rylea does not have a rich historical background, its components have been part of various cultures and traditions for centuries, lending it a unique and creative flair that has appealed to modern parents seeking distinctive names for their children.
People
Rylea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rylea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rylea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rylea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,075 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rylea going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 318,841 US residents.
Is Rylea a common name?
We classify Rylea as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,090 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rylea most popular?
The single biggest year for Rylea was 2008, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rylea is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rylea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 955 people with the name Rylea, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,842 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rylea in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rylea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rylea appears almost entirely female. Of the 951 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rylea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rylea is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rylea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rylea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.1% (794 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rylea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rylea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rylea in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rylea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rylea in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rylea can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Rylea?
Find out how many Americans are named Rylea on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.