Riel
Boy · ree-EL
Riel is a boys' name. In 2025 it ranked 6,442nd for boys in the US (13 babies).
What does Riel mean?
Perhaps a short form of Gabriel or Ariel, or the French surname Riel
Louis Riel led the Métis resistance in Canada and is honoured as a founder of Manitoba.
- Say it
- ree-EL
Is Riel a girl's or a boy's name?
Riel is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 13 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Riel in the UK?
No boys in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 2023, with 4 boys.
Riel in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | #5,198 |
| 2023 | 4 | #4,335 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 3 | #4,913 |
| 2018 | 3 | #4,959 |
How popular is Riel in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #6,442among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 13about 1 in 130,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 13 boys in the US were named Riel, making it the 6,442nd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 8,062nd. It first appears in the records in 2007.
2025 had the most boys named Riel of any year since it first appeared, in 2007.
Half of all the boys named Riel in the US since 1880 were born between 2010 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
Riel in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | #6,442 |
| 2024 | 9 | #8,307 |
| 2023 | 0 | – |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 9 | #8,062 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 6 | #10,754 |
| 2017 | 5 | #12,241 |
| 2016 | 6 | #10,739 |
| 2015 | 5 | #12,080 |
| 2014 | 8 | #8,775 |
| 2013 | 11 | #7,021 |
| 2012 | 7 | #9,703 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 6 | #10,759 |
| 2009 | 8 | #8,980 |
| 2008 | 9 | #8,319 |
| 2007 | 6 | #10,915 |
Names like Riel
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Daniel Rory Reuben Roman Reggie Ronnie Rowan Gabriel Riley Robin Russell Rupert