Meaning & Origin
A surname from Old English.
Ripley is a girl's and boy's baby name of Old English origin, from the place name meaning 'strip-shaped woodland clearing' or 'long narrow wood,' from Old English rippel (strip) and leah (clearing).
Ellen Ripley — the resourceful, indomitable heroine of the Alien franchise, played by Sigourney Weaver — is one of cinema's greatest female protagonists, and her surname has inspired a generation of parents to choose Ripley for daughters. It's a name with kick: a simple English place name that became the vessel for extraordinary female strength.