Ryan

Where Ryan comes from

The dictionaries list Ryan as a given name — a unisex given name — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1906
    First appearance
    #798 among boys, 10 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1976
    Ryan Reynolds born
    Canadian-American actor
  3. 1980
    Ryan Gosling born
    Canadian actor
  4. 1986
    Peak, #11
    29,524 babies named Ryan — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2008
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #18.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name.
  • A male given name.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, popular in English-speaking countries from the 1970s to the 1990s.
  • A male given name from Arabic رَيَّان (rayyān). Sometimes written and pronounced as Ryan in English due to the phonetic similarity with the Arabic name.
  • A female given name.
  • A female given name transferred from the surname, of 1970s and later usage.
  • A female given name of 1970s and later usage, variant of Rhian.
Namesakes
  • Ryan Reynolds · Canadian-American actor, born 1976
  • Ryan Gosling · Canadian actor, born 1980
  • Ryan Giggs · Welsh association football player and coach, born 1973
  • Ryan O'Neal · American actor, 1941–2023
  • Ryan Babel · Dutch association football player, born 1986

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.