Ridley

RID-lee

English

"cleared wood; reed clearing; channel clearing"

Ridley Origin and Meaning

The name Ridley is a girl's name of English origin meaning "cleared wood; reed clearing; channel clearing".

Can one prominent character affect the gender identity of a name? Definitely, as has supernatural bad girl Ridley Duchannes of the Beautiful Creatures series-turned-movie, played by the gorgeous Emmy Rossum.

Before Duchannes, director Ridley Scott all but owned this unusual surname and so gave it a male spin, but it feels girl-appropriate too, thanks to the afore mentioned character and actor Daisy Ridley. The trendy -ley ending helps it along, as it could easily fit in with Wrenley, Hadley, Presley, and similar.

Given to around 100 girls in each recent year, it peaked in 2018 when 124 girls received the name, along with 90 boys.

Ridley Popularity

• 1819 Nameberry 2024
• 868 Unique 2023
• 285 Unisex 2023

20 Names Similar to Ridley

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

• Raiden
• Huntley
• Ripley
• Ridley
• Rooney
• Haddie
• Rune
• Miko
• Rainey
• Shale
• Wilder
• Tinsley
• Clancy
• Rigby
• Brinsley
• Calen
• Clarke
• Aldous
• Maven
• Beck

Famous People Named Ridley

• Frances Ridley Havergal (1836 1879), hymnist and composer
• Daisy Ridley English actress
• Ridley Belle Baxter (b. 2007) daughter of actress Victoria Smurfit and Douglas Baxter

Ridley in Pop Culture

• Ridley Duchannes a main character in the Caster Chronicles
• Ridley Silverlake a main character in the computer game Radiata Stories