National River Day – February 2, 2025

History of National River Day

River is a gender-neutral English name that means “Stream of water that flows to the sea.” It is derived from the Latin word ‘ripa,’ which means ‘riverbank.’ A river is a “naturally flowing watercourse that flows towards an ocean, sea, lake, or another river, and is usually freshwater.” In some instances, a river may flow into the ground and become dry at the end of its course before reaching another source of water. Creeks, rivulets, brooks, streams, and rills are all terms used to describe small rivers.

‘Riparius’ originally referred to a ‘riverbank’, but when it was corrupted into Old French as ‘riviere’, it began to refer to both the river and the edge. The Normans introduced the word to England, where it was shortened to ‘rivere’ and then to the word ‘river’ that we know today. The Riviera and other coastal places like it allude to the original meaning of the word.

In the 1970s, River was a name given to a few babies. It was a counterculture name, along with Summer and Rain, Liberty, and Freedom. After all, the Phoenix named their son River. River Phoenix, born in 1970, rose to fame after starring in the 1986 film “Stand by Me.” He had already received an Oscar nomination and a slew of awards by the time he passed away in 1993, thanks to his roles in “Running On Empty” and “My Own Private Idaho.”