Rip is an old nickname of English and Dutch background with no fixed meaning of its own; as a short form of the surname Ripley it is read as "strip of cleared land". Washington Irving used it for Rip Van Winkle in 1819, and the actor Rip Torn carried it in the 20th century. Its recent surge belongs to Rip Wheeler, the ranch foreman in the series Yellowstone: Rip went from number 9507 in 2017 to number 1575 in 2021, its best rank, and stands at number 2348 in 2025.