Riff

Short form of Rifka, Rivka or Rafael.

In popular culture, this name is best known for being the name of one of the main characters of the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, namely the leader of a gang called the Jets. His name might possibly be derived from the English noun riff, which refers to a repeated instrumental melody line in a song.

Usage of this name in the Netherlands, where it is technically unisex but predominantly masculine, may possibly have been inspired by either the aforementioned character or the English word. If this is indeed the case, then the name could be considered to be a musical name.

However, it's also possible for the name to be a variant spelling of the rare Dutch name Rif, which can be both a nature-inspired name as well as a short form of a traditional given name for women.

A known Dutch bearer of this name is the second child but first son of the Dutch journalist and news presenter Annechien Steenhuizen (b. 1977), who was born in November 2014.

Short form of Riffert. Also compare Riffo and Rifo, which are both early medieval diminutives of Ricfrid.