Ripley

R1I1P3L1E1Y4
/ˈɹɪpli/

proper noun

A surname from Old English.

Less commonScrabble 11

Meanings

proper nounRipley (countable and uncountable, plural Ripleys)

plural Ripleys

  1. countableuncountableA surname from Old English.
  2. A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
    1. countableuncountableA male given name transferred from the surname.
    2. countableuncountableA female given name transferred from the surname.
  3. A placename.
    1. countableuncountableA suburb of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
    2. countableuncountableA town in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada.
    3. countableuncountableA town and civil parish with a town council in Amber Valley district, Derbyshire (OS grid ref SK3950).
    4. countableuncountableA hamlet in Sopley parish, New Forest district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SZ1698).
    5. countableuncountableA small village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, previously in Harrogate borough (OS grid ref SE2860).
    6. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Guildford borough, Surrey (OS grid ref TQ0556).
    7. countableuncountableA village in Brown County, Illinois.
    8. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Pulaski County, Indiana.
    9. countableuncountableA small town in Somerset County, Maine.
    10. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Tippah County, Mississippi.
    11. countableuncountableA neighbourhood of Independence, Missouri.
    12. countableuncountableA village in Brown County, Ohio.
    13. countableuncountableA small town in Payne County, Oklahoma.
    14. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Lauderdale County, Tennessee.
    15. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Jackson County, West Virginia.
    16. countableuncountableA number of townships in the United States, listed under Ripley Township.
    17. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Ripley County.

Origin

  1. Old Englishlēah“woodland clearing”
  2. EnglishRipley

From the Old English folk name for the Anglian tribe, *Hrype + Old English lēah (“woodland clearing”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Ripley. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ripley

MLA

“Ripley.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ripley. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ripley,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ripley.

Source: Ripley on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.