Rhianna
Feminine · “great queen”
Rhianna was already here. The Welsh Rhiannon has been in English-language use since the Mabinogi was translated in the nineteenth century, and its short form was quietly in circulation for decades before a Barbadian singer arrived in 2005 with a nearly identical name and a very different spelling, and gave it a wave it had nothing to do with.
How old is the name Rhianna?
Rhianna first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Rhianna alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 5,700 people named Rhianna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rhianna most popular?
Rhianna peaked in 2007, reaching #606 nationally. Today it ranks #6325, 5,719 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Rigantona to Rhianna
The story of Rhianna
Rhiannon is one of the central figures of the Mabinogi, a queen who arrives on a white horse that cannot be caught and who is later made to carry visitors on her back as a punishment for a crime she did not commit; scholars connect her to an older horse goddess. The name entered English usage after the Welsh tales were translated in the 1830s and 1840s, and it spread widely after a 1975 song. Rhianna is its clipped form. The American numbers then do something the Welsh had no part in: the name climbs sharply through 2006 and 2007, peaking in 2007, alongside a singer whose name is spelled without either the h after the R or the doubled n.
Meaning
great queen
Rhiannon descends from the Celtic Rigantona, from rigani, queen, with an augmentative ending, so the sense is great queen or divine queen. Rhianna is the shortened form and inherits it. This is unrelated to the singer's name Rihanna, which is a personal middle name of Barbadian origin and not a Welsh word.
How the name formed
- Rigantona
- Rhiannon
- Rhianna
Related forms: Rhiannon · Rianna · Rhian
Pronouncing Rhianna
ree-AN-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. In Welsh the rh is a voiceless r, made by breathing through the sound; English speakers say an ordinary r, which is expected and not treated as an error.
Nicknames for Rhianna
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1976
- Most girls named
- 2007495 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #606reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- +20.0%18 in 2025, from 15
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rhianna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rhiannon in Welsh — related form
- Rianna in English — spelling variant
- Rhian in Welsh — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, California.
Rhiannas among us
people named Rhianna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 89,293 born in 2025 was named Rhianna
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marylin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rhianna's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marylin climbed just as high around 1936, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marylin's path sketches the road Rhianna is walking now.
Rhianna sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Rhianna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rhianna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Celtic meaning and one of the great figures of Welsh legend behind it.
- The rh is a genuine Welsh spelling convention rather than a decorative one.
- Familiar to everyone by sound while being rare in this spelling.
- It will be heard as the singer's name and written Rihanna by most people.
- Rhianna, Rianna, Rhiana and Reanna all circulate.
- The Welsh rh is a sound English does not have, so the Welsh pronunciation is out of reach for most speakers.
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What they receive
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Rhianna
Feminine · #6325 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rhiannas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,700 people named Rhianna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rhianna in 2025?
- Rhianna ranks #6325 among US girl names in 2025, with 18 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rhianna?
- About 1 in every 89,293 US girls born in 2025 was named Rhianna — 18 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rhianna with classmates?
- Rhianna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rhianna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kaye#6325 · Doria#6325 · Karolyn#6325 · Rosaleen#6325 · Roni#6325 · Darian#6325 · Svetlana#6325 · Fanny#6325
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rhianna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rhianna and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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