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The first name 
River

River is a name for all genders, somewhat more commonly used for boys.

River known and loved in the US!

The name River is not currently one of the fashionable names trending in the top 10 rankings, but it is still popular and common. Recently, it has consistently ranked among the top 1,000 most popular first names in the United States. It is currently #216 in the SmartGenius ranking.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
River

What does the name 
River mean?

The name River is of English origin and refers to a body of flowing water. It is derived from the Latin word ‘ripa’, meaning ‘riverbank’.

What is a nature name? A nature name is derived from the natural world. It can refer to names of plants, animals, and other natural phenomena. Willow, Isla, and Sky are other examples.

There are quite a few famous people called River

An actor and musician

River Jude Phoenix (1970-1993)
River was a US-American actor and musician. Through films such as »Stand by Me« (1986) and »My Own Private Idaho« (1991), he was considered one of Hollywood's most promising young actors at the time. In 1988 he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the drama »Running on Empty« (1988). He died at age 23 due to an overdose. He was the older brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix.

A musician

Rivers Cuomo (*1970)
The US musician became known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the alternative rock band »Weezer«. He uses songwriting as a medium of expression and often tells of intimate experiences (i.e. the song »Pink Triangle«) or fear (i.e. the song »Say It Ain't So«) in his lyrics. Cuomo has published thousands of home recordings on his website. He has collaborated with several artists such as »Panic! at the Disco«.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name River, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name River? Are you also called River? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

A village

In Kent, England you can find the village and civial parish »River«. It is located close to the town and major ferry port of Dover.

A city and a county

»Riverside« is the name of a city that is located in »Riverside« County, California, USA.

A state

There is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria called »Rivers State«. It is also known as »Rivers«.

River has 5 letters 
and begins with an R

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter R is neither particularly common nor particularly rare as a first letter for given names: 4.8% of all common first names in the US begin with this letter. The most common initial letters of first names are A and J, while U and X are the least common initials of first names.

With five letters, the name River is comparatively short. In fact, 17.0% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly five letters. Only 7% of all first names are even shorter, while 75% have more than five letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

Thus, it follows that if 4.8% of all first names start with an R, this initial letter occurs more often than all 26 letters on average.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say River

If your name is River and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name River

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name River, you can simply say:

Rocket

Igloo

Violin

Elephant

Rocket

This is how the name River is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write River in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

River

River

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is River

Just use American Sign Language!

The name River is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

R
I
V
E
R

Have you ever waved the name River

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

R
I
V
E
R

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. River sounds like this: