Rio

Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese

"river or place of the cherry blossoms"

Rio Origin and Meaning

The name Rio is a boy's name of Spanish origin meaning "river or place of the cherry blossoms".

Rio is a reductive ranchero place-name with an attractive Tex-Mex lilt. No Doubt's Tom Dumont has a son named Rio Atticus.

Also a South American place name, and associated with the Rio Grande, it's been used as a swaggering cowboy name in films spanning from a William S. Hart character in 1915 to Marlon Brando's in One-Eyed Jacks. Adding to its international credibility, Rio is also a Japanese name meaning "place of the cherry blossoms".

Rio is gender neutral, given to about 500 baby boys versus 100 baby girls. It's noted as a girl's name in the catchy Duran Duran song.

Rio Rank in US Top 1000

# 572 in the US

Rio Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 462 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Rio

• 572 US 2023
• 462 Nameberry 2025
• 55 Unique 2019
• 109 Unisex 2023
• 157 England 2023
• 112 Scotland 2024

20 Names Similar to Rio

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Rio.

• Piper
• Saint
• Seven
• Titan
• Legend
• Major
• Link
• Memphis
• Rome
• Lux
• Skye
• Kodiak
• Steel
• Zen
• Nile
• Canyon
• Reign
• Brave
• Steele
• Stone

Famous People Named Rio

• Rio Gavin Ferdinand English footballer
• Rio Joseph Grillo (b. 2008) son of Wendy Moniz & Frank Grillo
• Rio Atticus Dumont (b. 2008) son of musician Tom Dumont
• Rocco Rio Reynolds (b. 2010) son of Jillian Barberie
• Rio nickname of actor River Phoenix
• Rio Lopes (b. 2020) son of Portuguese football player Eder Lopes and Belgium model Sanna Lopes (Ladera)

The name Rio in Pop Culture

• Rio de Janeiro city in Brazil
• Rio pseudonym of Anibal Cortes, one of the main characters in series “Money Heist”
• Rio Jerrica/Jem's boyfriend on animated series "Jem & the Holograms"
• Rio 2011 animated film about parrots set in Rio de Janeiro
• Rio Wellard character in book/TV series 'The Story of Tracy Beaker'
• Rio Portuguese word for "River"