Girl Names That Start With R: 133 Ideas

Girl names that start with R range from classics like Ruby, Rose, Rachel and Ruth to rare picks like Reverie, Rosabel and Roswitha, and this list of 133 R girl names gives a checked origin and meaning for every one.

R is a warm, versatile letter for a daughter’s name. None of the 2025 U.S. top 10 girl names starts with R, according to the Social Security Administration, yet the letter holds some of the best known biblical names, a whole family of rose names and names from many languages.

We grouped the R girl names by style: familiar, unique, short, long, vintage, nature, mythology, biblical, international and gender neutral. After the lists come pronunciation tips (including the Welsh Rh), nicknames, sibling and middle name ideas, and a quick initials check.

Key Takeaways

No R name is in the SSA top 10 for girls born in 2025, so even familiar R names sit outside the very top of the chart.
Familiar R girl names include Ruby, Rose, Rosalie, Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Regina and Ramona.
Rare options include Reverie, Rosabel, Roswitha, Richmal, Romola and Rosamund.
The rose family (Rose, Rosa, Rosie, Rosalie, Rhosyn, Róisín and more) gives you rose names in many languages.
Test your favorite with the initials, out loud, spelling and nickname checks before you decide.

Table of Contents

Girl Names That Start With R at a Glance

Quick Answer

Standout R girl names: Ruby, Rose, Rosalie, Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Regina and Ramona (familiar and classic); Reverie, Rosabel, Roswitha and Richmal (rare); Rae, Rue, Romy and Reba (short); Rhosyn, Rocío and Rosalba (nature). No R name made the U.S. top 10 for babies born in 2025.

Every origin and meaning on this page was checked against the name’s own entry on Behind the Name in October 2026. Where the reference calls a meaning unknown or uncertain, we say so, and where it only says “form of” another name, so do we.

Start with the familiar baby girl names that start with R. For a wider search, see our main list of baby girl names, or compare with our new list of girl names that start with B.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Ruby	English	From the precious stone, ultimately from Latin rubeus: “red”; the traditional birthstone of July
Rose	English, French	Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name Hrodohaidis, “famous type”; early on linked with the flower
Rosie	English	Diminutive of Rose
Rosalie	French, German, Dutch, English	French, German and Dutch form of Rosalia, from Latin rosa: “rose”
Rosa	Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, English and more	Generally from Latin rosa, “rose”; borne by civil rights activist Rosa Parks
Rosemary	English	Rose plus Mary; also the herb, from Latin ros marinus: “dew of the sea”
Rachel	English, Hebrew, French, Dutch, German, Biblical	From Hebrew Raḥel: “ewe”; the favorite wife of Jacob in the Old Testament
Rebecca	English, Italian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Biblical	From Hebrew Rivqa, probably from a Semitic root meaning “join, tie, snare”; the wife of Isaac
Ruth	English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish, Biblical and more	Probably from Hebrew reʿuṯ: “female friend”; the central character of the Book of Ruth
Raelynn	English (Modern)	Rae plus the popular name suffix lyn
Ryleigh	English (Modern)	Feminine variant of Riley
Regina	English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and more	“Queen” in Latin
Renata	Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Polish and more	Feminine form of Renatus: “born again”
Ramona	Spanish, Romanian, English	Feminine form of Ramón; popularized by Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel Ramona (1884)
Raquel	Spanish, Portuguese, English	Spanish and Portuguese form of Rachel
Rita	Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English and more	Short form of Margherita and other names ending in rita; Saint Rita of Cascia
Roxanne	English, French	Variant of Roxane, the French and English form of Roxana: “bright, shining”

Familiar and classic R girl names with origins and meanings.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the top 10 girl names for babies born in the United States in 2025 were Olivia, Charlotte, Emma, Amelia, Sophia, Mia, Isabella, Evelyn, Sofia and Eliana. None of them starts with R, so even the best known R names above sit outside the very top of the national chart.

The SSA does not combine different spellings of similar names, so Rebecca and Rebekah, or Riley, Rylee and Ryleigh, are counted separately. A name can feel common in conversation while each spelling looks smaller on paper.

A few old names sit behind a big share of R girl names. If you like one member of a family, look at the others too:

The Rose family: Rose, Rosa, Rosie, Rosalie, Rosalia, Rosetta, Rosina, Rosabel, Roos, Rozenn, Rhosyn and Róisín all connect to the rose, either directly or, in the case of Rose itself, by early association. Rosalind and Rosamund only look related: Behind the Name traces both to an Old German word for horse.
The Rebecca family: Rebecca, Rebekah, Rebekka, Rivka, Riva and Reba.
The Rachel family: Rachel, Raquel and the short form Rae.
The Roxana family: Roxanne, Roxy and the Romanian Ruxandra all trace back to Roxana, “bright, shining”.

Unique and Rare Girl Names That Start With R

Looking for unique girl names that start with R? Behind the Name marks most of these as rare in English or limits them to one language. Several have a clear literary or historical link: Rilla is a daughter of Anne in the Anne of Green Gables sequels, and Roswitha was a 10th-century Saxon nun who wrote poems and dramas.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Reverie	English (Rare)	“Daydream, fanciful musing”, from Old French resverie
Rosabel	English (Rare)	Rosa plus the name suffix bel, inspired by Latin bella, “beautiful”; created in the 18th century
Roswitha	German	Old German hruod, “fame”, plus swind, “strong”; a 10th-century Saxon nun who wrote poems and dramas
Rilla	English	Short form of names ending in rilla; a daughter of Anne in L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables sequels
Ravenna	English (Rare)	Either an elaboration of Raven or from the city of Ravenna in Italy
Richmal	English (Rare)	Meaning uncertain, possibly Richard plus Mary; used mainly in the town of Bury in Lancashire
Romola	Italian (Rare)	Italian feminine form of Romulus
Rohesia	Medieval English (Latinized)	Latinized form of the medieval name Rohese (see Rose)
Rosamund	English (Rare)	Old German hros, “horse”, plus munt, “protection”; later read as Latin rosa munda, “pure rose”
Rosamond	English	Variant of Rosamund, in use since the Middle Ages

Unique and rare R names for girls.

Richmal is a good example of honest uncertainty: the reference says the meaning is uncertain and only possibly a blend of Richard and Mary. To see how rare any name really is, use the Popularity of a Name search on the SSA baby names page. The SSA leaves out names with fewer than 5 occurrences to protect privacy, so the very rarest names will not show up at all. Our unique girl names guide has more ideas.

Short R Names for Girls (3 to 4 Letters)

Short R names are bright and easy to pair with almost any surname. Many began as nicknames for longer names, and a few are words in their own right: Rue is a herb, and Riva is an old Hebrew word for a girl.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Rae	English	Short form of Rachel; also a feminine form of Ray
Ria	German, Dutch	Short form of Maria
Rue	English	The bitter medicinal herb; sometimes a short form of Ruth
Rina	Italian, Dutch	Short form of Caterina or Catharina and other names ending in rina
Romy	German, Dutch, French, English	Diminutive of Rosemarie, Rosemary and names beginning with Rom
Roxy	English	Diminutive of Roxana
Riva	Hebrew	Diminutive of Rivka; also an archaic Hebrew word for “girl, maiden”
Reba	English	Short form of Rebecca
Rena	English	Latinate feminine form of René (from Renatus, “born again”)
Raya	Bulgarian, Russian	Diminutive of Rayna or Raisa
Reem	Arabic	Alternate transcription of Rim: “white antelope”
Rei	Japanese	“Bell”, “beautiful, lovely” or “the tinkling of jade”, depending on the kanji

Short girl names starting with R.

More short R names sit elsewhere on this page: Rose, Rosa, Ruby, Ruth and Rita in the familiar list, Roos and Rasa in the nature list, Rhea in the mythology list, and Ren, Rin, Rio, Rain and Rudo in the gender neutral list. See our short girl names for more across every letter.

Long, Elegant and Vintage R Names

Longer R names give you a formal option plus a built-in nickname. Rose shows up again and again here, along with two names that Shakespeare gave to his heroines.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Rosalind	English	Old German hros, “horse”, plus lind, “soft, flexible, tender”; spelling shaped by Latin rosa linda, “beautiful rose”
Rosaline	English	Medieval variant of Rosalind; used by Shakespeare in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Romeo and Juliet
Rosalina	Portuguese, Spanish	Latinate form of Rosaline
Rosaleen	English (Rare), Irish	Variant of Rosaline; used as an English rendering of Róisín in an 1846 poem
Rosalia	Italian, Late Roman	Late Latin, from rosa: “rose”; a 12th-century Sicilian saint
Rosemarie	English, German, Dutch	Variant of Rosemary
Roberta	English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese	Feminine form of Robert: “bright fame”
Rowena	English	Meaning uncertain; from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12th-century chronicle; popularized by Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819)
Raffaella	Italian	Italian feminine form of Raphael: “God heals”

Long and elegant R girl names.

These vintage picks feel familiar from older generations. Rosetta and Rosina are Italian pet forms of Rosa, and Ruthie is the classic nickname for Ruth.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Rosetta	Italian	Italian diminutive of Rosa
Rosina	Italian	Italian diminutive of Rosa; a character in Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville (1816)
Rosalyn	English	Variant of Rosaline, or Rose plus the name suffix lyn
Ruthie	English	Diminutive of Ruth
Rhonda	English	Probably a blend of Rhoda and Linda, perhaps also influenced by the Rhondda Valley in South Wales
Rochelle	English	From the French city La Rochelle: “little rock”

Vintage R names for girls.

For more names with this feel, browse our old fashioned girl names list.

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Nature R Names: Roses, Dew, Herbs and Rain

R is the rose letter. Welsh, Breton, Dutch and Italian each give you their own rose name, and Spanish and Lithuanian add names that mean dew. Ruby, a red gemstone, and Rosemary, a herb, sit in the familiar list. For more, see our flower names list.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Rhosyn	Welsh (Rare)	“Rose” in Welsh; a modern Welsh name
Rozenn	Breton	“Rose” in Breton
Roos	Dutch	Dutch vernacular form of Rosa: “rose” in Dutch
Rosalba	Italian	“White rose”, from Latin rosa and alba
Rayén	Spanish (Latin American)	Spanish form of Rayen, “flower” in Mapuche
Reyhan	Turkish, Uyghur	Turkish and Uyghur form of Rayhana, “basil” in Arabic
Rocío	Spanish	“Dew”; from the title of the Virgin Mary, María del Rocío, “Mary of the Dew”
Rasa	Lithuanian, Latvian	“Dew” in Lithuanian and Latvian
Rūta	Lithuanian, Latvian	“Rue”, the bitter herb that is a national symbol of Lithuania; also the Lithuanian form of Ruth
Rainbow	English (Rare)	From the English word for the arc of colored light in a misty sky

Nature inspired R names for girls.

Rain, River, Raven and Rowan are nature names too, but Behind the Name lists each of them as both feminine and masculine, so you will find them in the gender neutral table below. Rūta is a nice example of a double meaning: it is the Lithuanian word for the rue plant and also the Lithuanian form of Ruth.

Mythology, Literature and Biblical R Names

R gives you a Titan from Greek myth, a queenly figure from Welsh legend and two heroines from children’s stories. For Rhea, the reference says the meaning is unknown, with two possible links, so we print it that way.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Rhea	Greek mythology, Roman mythology	Meaning unknown, perhaps from Greek rheo, “to flow”, or era, “ground”; a Titan and the mother of Zeus
Rheia	Greek mythology	Variant of Rhea
Rhiannon	Welsh, English, Welsh mythology	Probably from Celtic Rīgantonā: “great queen”; a magical woman who rides a white horse in the Mabinogi
Rapunzel	Literature	From the name of an edible plant; the heroine of an 1812 fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm
Ronja	Swedish, Finnish	Invented by Astrid Lindgren, from part of a Swedish lake name; Ronia the Robber’s Daughter (1981)

R names from mythology and literature.

Literature also shaped several names in other tables. Shakespeare used Rosalind for the heroine of As You Like It and Rosaline in two plays, Walter Scott popularized Rowena in Ivanhoe, and Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel Ramona made that name better known in English.

Biblical girl names that start with R include some of the best known in the Old Testament: Rachel, Rebecca and Ruth, all in the familiar table above. Below are three more. Our biblical girl names guide has a fuller list.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Rebekah	Biblical, English	Form of Rebecca used in some versions of the Bible
Rhoda	Biblical, English	From Greek rhodon: “rose”; a maid in the house of Mary the mother of John Mark in the New Testament
Rahab	Biblical	“Spacious” in Hebrew; a woman of Jericho in the Old Testament

Biblical R names for girls.

International R Names by Language

Origins below use the reference’s own usage labels. Many of these are local forms of names you already know, such as Raphael, Regina, Rebecca, Richard and Roxana.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Raphaëlle	French	French feminine form of Raphael: “God heals”
Romane	French	French feminine form of Romanus (see Roman)
Régine	French	French form of Regina: “queen”
Rossella	Italian	Diminutive of Rossa: “red” in Italian
Rosalía	Spanish, Galician	Spanish and Galician form of Rosalia
Remedios	Spanish	“Remedies”; from a title of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Remedies
Ricarda	German, Spanish, Portuguese	Feminine form of Richard: “brave ruler”
Rebekka	German, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish and more	Form of Rebecca used in various languages
Rivka	Hebrew	Hebrew form of Rebecca
Ragna	Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Old Norse	Short form of Old Norse names beginning with regin: “advice, counsel”
Ragnhild	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish	From Old Norse Ragnhildr: regin, “advice, counsel”, plus hildr, “battle”
Rigmor	Danish, Norwegian, Swedish	Scandinavian form of Ricmod (“ruler, king” plus “mind, spirit”)
Rikke	Danish	Danish short form of Frederikke
Róisín	Irish	Diminutive of Róis or of Irish rós: “rose”
Ríona	Irish	Either a variant of Ríoghnach or a short form of Caitríona
Rhian	Welsh	From Welsh rhiain: “maiden, young woman”
Ruxandra	Romanian	Romanian form of Roxana: “bright, shining”
Raluca	Romanian	Romanian diminutive of the Greek name Rallou, of uncertain meaning
Radka	Czech, Bulgarian	Feminine form of Radko, from Slavic radŭ: “happy, willing”

French, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, Irish, Welsh, Romanian and Hebrew R names.

For Japanese names, the meaning depends on the characters a family chooses, so treat each gloss as one common reading, not the only one. Rufaro (Shona) and Rangimārie (Māori) are good picks if you want a meaning that is a whole idea: happiness, and peaceful, calm.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Radha	Hinduism, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi	“Success, prosperity” in Sanskrit; the favorite consort of Krishna
Rohini	Hinduism, Marathi	“Ascending” in Sanskrit; also the Sanskrit name for the star Aldebaran
Rekha	Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and more	“Line, stripe, streak” in Sanskrit
Roshni	Marathi, Hindi	“Light, brightness”, ultimately of Persian origin
Ritu	Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi	From Sanskrit ṛtu: “season, period”
Rahma	Arabic, Indonesian	“Mercy, compassion” in Arabic
Rasha	Arabic	“Young gazelle” in Arabic
Rana	Arabic	“To gaze, to look intently” in Arabic
Rania	Arabic	Alternate transcription of Raniya, possibly from a root meaning “to gaze, to look intently”
Reiko	Japanese	“The tinkling of jade” or “ceremony” plus “child”, depending on the kanji
Riko	Japanese	“White jasmine” or “reason, logic” plus “child”, depending on the kanji
Ryōko	Japanese	“Cool, refreshing” or “good, virtuous” plus “child”, depending on the kanji
Rumi	Japanese	“Lapis lazuli” or “stop, detain” plus “beautiful”, depending on the kanji
Rufaro	Shona	“Happiness”
Rangimārie	Māori	“Peaceful, calm”

Indian, Arabic, Japanese, Shona and Māori R names.

Print accents and marks exactly as the name is spelled (Raphaëlle, Régine, Rosalía, Róisín, Ríona, Rūta, Ryōko, Rangimārie). U.S. paperwork does not always carry accents or special characters, so decide ahead of time whether you are comfortable seeing the name without them. If a name comes from a culture outside your own family, learn how it is pronounced and used before you commit.

Gender Neutral R Names

Behind the Name lists each of these as both feminine and masculine. Several are English surnames built on a place name ending in a word for a clearing (Riley, Ripley, Ridley, Raleigh), and a few are everyday words (River, Rain, Raven, Reign, Royal). Use can differ by country: the reference notes that Riley is used for both girls and boys, with usage that differs from country to country. See our gender neutral names guide for more.

Name	Origin	Meaning
Riley	English	From a surname: an Irish variant of Reilly, or an English place name meaning “rye clearing”
Rylee	English (Modern)	Variant of Riley
Reagan	English (Modern)	From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Riagáin
Reese	Welsh, English	Anglicized form of Rhys (probably “ardour, enthusiasm”); also used as a girl’s name
Remi	English (Modern)	English form of Rémi, also used as a feminine name
Remy	English (Modern)	English form of Rémy (from Latin remigis, “oarsman, rower”), also used as a feminine name
Raven	English	From the name of the bird, from Old English hræfn
Reign	English (Modern)	From the English word reign, from Latin regnum: “royal power”
Royal	English	From the English word royal, from Latin regalis; a given name since the 19th century
Romilly	English (British, Rare)	From an English surname taken from Norman town names
River	English (Modern)	From the English word for a flowing body of water, from Latin ripa: “riverbank”
Rain	English (Rare)	From the English word rain, from Old English regn
Raine	English (Rare)	From a surname based on the Old French nickname reine, “queen”; also a variant of Rain
Rowan	Irish, English (Modern)	Anglicized form of the Irish name Ruadhán; also linked with the rowan tree
Robin	English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Czech	Medieval English diminutive of Robert, now an independent name
Rory	Irish, Scottish, English	Anglicized form of Ruaidhrí; typically masculine
Ripley	English (Rare)	From a surname: Old English rippel, “grove, thicket”, plus leah, “clearing”
Ridley	English (Rare)	From a surname: “reed clearing” or “stripped clearing” in Old English
Raleigh	English	From a surname: “red clearing” or “roe deer clearing” in Old English
Ramsey	English	From a surname: “garlic island” in Old English
Ren	Japanese	“Lotus” or “romantic love”, among other kanji
Rin	Japanese	“Dignified, severe, cold”, among other kanji with the same sound
Rio	Various	“River” in Spanish or Portuguese
Reyes	Spanish	“Kings”; from a title of the Virgin Mary, La Virgen de los Reyes
Rutendo	Shona	“Thankfulness”
Rudo	Shona	“Love”
Refilwe	Tswana	“We were given”

Gender neutral names that start with R.

Why R Names Are Loved: Sound, Spelling and Nicknames

A few plain reasons parents keep coming back to R girl names:

R is a warm, rolling sound, and it starts strong names (Regina, Rowena) as easily as soft ones (Rosie, Rue).
The rose family alone gives you more than a dozen choices in many languages.
Classic biblical names (Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth) sit next to modern word names (Reverie, Reign, River).
Many long R names shorten neatly into a nickname.

The tricky part of R names is the spelling Rh. In Welsh it is a separate breathy sound; in English it is usually a plain R. This table uses the pronunciation printed on each name’s Behind the Name entry (in the International Phonetic Alphabet).

Name	Pronunciation (IPA)	Note
Rhiannon	/r̥ɪ.ˈan.ɔn/ (Welsh), /ɹi.ˈæn.ən/ (English)	Welsh Rh is a breathy, voiceless R
Rhian	/ˈr̥iː.an/ (Welsh)	Breathy Welsh Rh
Rhosyn	/ˈr̥ɔs.ɪn/ (Welsh)	Breathy Welsh Rh
Rhoda	/ˈɹoʊ.də/ (English)	In English, Rh is a plain R
Rhea	/ˈɹi.ə/, /ˈɹeɪ.ə/ (English)	Two English pronunciations are listed
Róisín	/ɾˠoː.ˈʃiːnʲ/ (Irish)	Stress on the second syllable, which has an sh sound
Rocío	/ro.ˈθi.o/ (European Spanish), /ro.ˈsi.o/ (Latin American Spanish)	The c sounds like th in Spain and like s in Latin America
Raquel	/ra.ˈkel/ (Spanish), /ɹə.ˈkɛl/ (English)	Stress on the second syllable
Raphaëlle	/ʁa.fa.ɛl/ (French)	Three syllables; the diaeresis keeps the a and e separate
Romy	/ˈʁoː.mi/ (German), /ˈɹoʊ.mi/ (English)	The R changes with the language
Rowena	/ɹoʊ.ˈin.ə/ (English)	Stress on the middle syllable

How some R names are said, per Behind the Name.

Most English R names read the way they look. The ones to check are the Welsh Rh names, the Irish names and names from languages where R is rolled or made in the throat. If relatives will see the name in writing before they hear it, a quick note on the birth announcement helps.

Full name	Nickname ideas
Rose, Rosa	Rosie, Rosetta (Italian), Rosina (Italian), Roos (Dutch)
Rosemary, Rosemarie	Romy
Rachel	Rae
Rebecca	Reba, plus Riva by way of the Hebrew Rivka
Ruth	Ruthie, Rue
Roxana, Roxanne	Roxy
Maria	Ria
Caterina, Catharina	Rina
Margherita	Rita
Frederikke	Rikke (Danish)
Marilla	Rilla

Nickname ideas for R names, each listed as a short or pet form on Behind the Name.

For more nickname inspiration across all letters, see our nicknames for girls.

Sibling, Twin and Middle Name Ideas

These pairings are ideas, not rules. Sister or twin sets that share a letter work best when the names differ in length, ending or rhythm:

Ruby and Rosalind
Rose and Ramona
Rachel and Rhiannon
Rosie and Rue
Regina and Rowena
Rhian and Rhosyn
Raphaëlle and Régine
Rahma and Rasha
Reiko and Rumi
Rosalba and Rossella

For a brother, look at our same-day list of boy names that start with D, or keep the letter with Rowan, Rory, Reese or River from the gender neutral table above.

Rose is one of the most flexible middle names there is, and it works after almost any first name. For other middle ideas, contrast helps: a short middle balances a long first name (Rosalind Rae, Ramona Rue), and a longer middle gives a short first name some weight (Rue Rosamund, Rae Rosaline).

The Initials Check and Other Quick Tests

Before you settle on girl names that start with R, run each finalist through four quick tests:

Initials: write out first, middle and last initials. R.I.P. and R.A.T. are combinations many parents would rather avoid. Swap the middle name if you spot a problem.
Say it out loud: call the full name across a room. A first name that ends in R or a vowel can blur into a surname that starts with R, so listen for that.
Spelling: many R names come in several spellings (Rebecca and Rebekah, Riley, Rylee and Ryleigh, Remi and Remy). Decide whether you mind spelling it out for years.
Nicknames: check the nickname table above. If you dislike the obvious short form, assume someone will use it anyway.

One more check is optional: how common the name is. No R name is in the 2025 top 10, but that does not make every R name rare. The SSA’s Popularity of a Name search lets you look a name up by sex and range of years, which is a quick way to tell familiar from truly rare.

If you are stuck between two finalists, try each one in the sentences you will say most: calling her to dinner, introducing her to a neighbor, spelling it for a receptionist. The name that still feels easy after a few days of that is usually the one.

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The Bottom Line

Girl names that start with R cover every style: classics like Ruby, Rose, Rachel and Ruth, rare finds like Reverie and Roswitha, short names like Rae and Rue, a whole family of rose names, and names from Welsh, Irish, Spanish, Scandinavian, Indian, Arabic, Japanese, Shona and Māori traditions. Shortlist three to five, read each meaning, test the initials and the sound, and say each one out loud for a week.

Then give yourself permission to stop looking. A name you have checked, said aloud and still love after a week is a good name.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular girl names that start with R?

No R name made the Social Security Administration’s top 10 for girls born in the United States in 2025. Familiar R girl names include Ruby, Rose, Rosalie, Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Regina, Ramona and Raquel. Riley, Reagan and Reese are also well known but are listed for both girls and boys.

What are unique R girl names?

Unique R girl names include Reverie, meaning daydream, Rosabel, Roswitha, Rilla, Ravenna, Richmal, Romola and Rosamund. Behind the Name marks several of them as rare in English. The Social Security Administration leaves names with fewer than 5 occurrences out of its lists, so the very rarest names never appear in its data.

What are pretty R names for girls?

Taste is personal, but meaning can help. Rhosyn, Rozenn and Roos all mean rose, Rosalba means white rose, Rocío and Rasa mean dew, Rufaro means happiness in Shona and Rangimārie means peaceful and calm in Māori. Rosabel adds an ending inspired by the Latin word for beautiful.

What are short girl names that start with R?

Short R names include Rae, Ria, Rue, Rina, Romy, Roxy, Riva, Reba, Rena, Raya, Reem and Rei, plus Rose, Rosa, Ruby, Ruth and Rita. Many began as pet forms: Rae comes from Rachel, Reba from Rebecca, Roxy from Roxana, and Romy from Rosemarie or Rosemary.

What are biblical girl names that start with R?

Rachel, Rebecca and Ruth are the best known, all from the Old Testament. Rebekah is the form of Rebecca used in some Bible versions, Rahab was a woman of Jericho, and Rhoda appears in the New Testament as a maid in the house of Mary the mother of John Mark.

Which R names work for both girls and boys?

Behind the Name lists Riley, Rylee, Reagan, Reese, Remi, Remy, Raven, Reign, Royal, River, Rain, Rowan, Robin, Rory, Ripley and Ridley as both feminine and masculine. Usage can differ by country: Riley is used for both girls and boys, while Rory is typically masculine.

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