Name of the Week: River

 

 

Origin:

River is a name adopted directly from nature. The word river has been used in English since the 13th century, adopted from the Anglo-French rivere, Old French riviere "river, riverside, river bank" and ultimately the Latin riparius "of a riverbank." The similar Rivers comes from the surname, which ultimately derives from places in France called La Rivière. In some cases, it may have referred (in English) to someone who dwelt by a river.

Usage:

River and Rivers have been used as given names since the 18th century. In the case of Rivers, this was thanks to adoption of the surname. It was mostly given to boys, but -- as a family surname -- was occasionally given to girls. River itself was most often used by families with the surname Jordan, or Jordan was adopted as a middle name, and thus the name gained biblical connotations. In some other cases, River was paired with the surname Banks -- the Victorians really did like cliché surname-firstnname combinations. As far as I can find, only boys were given the name River in the 18th and 19th century.  Registered births per decade in England and Wales:   River Rivers 1840s: 1850s:  1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s:  1980s: 1 birth 4 births 6 births 0 births 5 births 1 birth 2 births 0 births 0 births 0 births 0 births 0 births 1 birth 1 birth 3 births 7 births 6 births 12 births 9 births 11 births 6 births 12 births 3 births 6 births 3 births 1 birth 0 births 1 birth 0 births 0 births click to enlarge Since the 1990s, River has been rising for both genders in England and Wales. Actor River Phoenix had been hot-property in Hollywood by the late 80s, and his death in 1993 took the media spotlight. For boys, River stayed consistently around the #1000 mark up until 2005 when it gradually began rising up the ranks, reaching #479 (80 births) in 2013.  For girls, River struggled to make the rankings in the 1990s and only managed to crack the top 2000 names in 2006. After that, however, it began to rose and ranked #684 (58 births) in 2013. In 2014, however, the gender usage took a switch, with River rising up to #383 (116 births) for girls but River for boys dropping down to #566 (63 births). Some of this may be down to Alex Kingston's character River Song as the wife of Doctor Who, appearing in episodes from 2008, but having particularly notable roles in 2011 and 2012.  As of 2015, River has established itself firmly as a unisex name with a mere two births between the number of boys and number of girls to receive the name. River for girls ranked #410 with 110 births and River for boys ranked #393 with 108 births.  In Scotland, River was solidly unisex from 2005 to 2013, with the name given to both boys and girls between 1-3 times per year per gender. Since 2014, it has risen for girls in use, ranking #379 (9 births) for girls and #1234 (1 birth) for boys in 2015.  Most recently, Jamie Oliver and wife Jools welcomed their youngest son whom they have named River Rocket (or River Rocket Blue Dallas Oliver in full, apparently). Will this be enough to shift River back into the boys' camp?

Famous Bearers:

Contemporary: * River Phoenix (1970–1993), American actor. * River George (b. 1987), British actress. * River Viiperi (b. 1991), Spanish-Finnish male model Literature and Other Media: * River Song, character in the television series Doctor Who (2008-2015). * River Tam, character in the television series Firefly (2002-2005)

Variants:

Rivers

Pronunciation:

RIV-ə [key]

Possible diminutives:

Rev

Sibling Names:

Willow     Hazel     Cassia     Juniper     India     Eden  Sawyer     August     Heath     Wyatt     Archer     Jesse

Name Lists:

N/A

 

If you like River you may also like:    Rowan, Forrest, Grayson, Ryker, Atlas, Caelan, Ronan, Nate, Kit, Micah

 

Thanks to Amy for requesting this post.