Rhiannon
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Meaning
great queen; Welsh mythological figure
Say it: ree-AN-on
The story
Rhiannon rides in from Welsh mythology, the great queen of the Mabinogi whose horse walks unhurried yet can never be caught. For centuries the name stayed inside Wales, and the US curve shows the exact moment that changed: nothing at all until the 1970s, when Fleetwood Mac released Rhiannon in 1975 and Stevie Nicks sang a Welsh legend onto American radio. Nicks famously took the name from a novel and only later discovered the mythology fit her song anyway. The curve has held steady ever since, with the 2020s matching its strongest decades, a queen who arrived by album and stayed. The song supplied recognition, while the Welsh source gives the name a history much older than its modern American chart.
Rhiannon in song
Rhiannon
Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Stevie Nicks picked the name out of a novel and only later learned it belonged to a Welsh myth, and the song became the spinning, black-shawled centerpiece of her live show.
How popular is Rhiannon around the world?
In the United States, 1,245 babies were named Rhiannon between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 2 girls were registered as Rhiannon in 2017.
Rhiannon is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 18,000
In the United States, 1,245 babies were named Rhiannon between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Rhiannon peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 girls were registered as Rhiannon in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 26,000
In Canada, 14 girls named Rhiannon were born in 2024, ranked 1,615th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 27,000
In England and Wales, 22 girls named Rhiannon were born in 2025, ranked 1,407th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
last on record 2010
Rhiannon is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Ireland
last on record 2019
Rhiannon is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Rhiannon is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2010
Rhiannon is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Scotland
last on record 2023
Rhiannon is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Rhiannon
Most people given the name Rhiannon in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Rhiannon you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Rhiannon deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Rhiannon truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Rhiannon fits with your family’s names and surname.
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