Ryan is a given name in English. It is primarily a male name. It comes either from the surname Ryan, which comes from the Irish Ó Riain, or from the Irish given name Rían (which may mean "little king").
IrelandFor Ireland, information is available for 2005 and 2006, which shows a popularity rank of 10th and 14th, respectively, for use of "Ryan" as a male given name for newborn children.
United KingdomIn Scotland of the 1990s, "Ryan" was the most popular forename for newborn boys in every year from 1994 to 1998; this popularity is recent, as "Ryan" apparently was not in use in 1900, ranked between 100 and 250 in 1950, and appears at rank 64 in 1975. In Northern Ireland, "Ryan" appeared among the top five most commonly selected male names for newborns in 2000–2003, but did not appear among the top ten in 1975. In England and Wales, data for 2003–2007 is available, which suggest somewhat less popularity of "Ryan" than in other parts of the UK, having a rank of 21 in 2003 and 2004 then dropping to 25 in 2005–2007.
United States"Ryan" as a male given name has persisted in popularity for the thirty-year period of 1976–2006 in the 10th to 20th rank; the name appeared in the top thousand for the first time in 1946 and gained steadily in popularity until leveling off in the 1970s. Its ascendency in the U.S. has been traced, in part, to its use by American actor Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal who used the stage name Ryan O'Neal in the popular series Peyton Place from 1964 to 1969.
The popularity of "Ryan" as a female given name is an order of magnitude less than that as a male name; the name first appeared in the top thousand in 1974 and has remained there since, fluctuating widely from year to year but never breaching the rank of 300.
Ryan AdamsRyan Babel, Dutch footballerRyan Bastinac, Australian rules footballerRyan Benjamin (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Bethea, American football playerRyan Braun, American All Star major league baseball playerRyan Broekhoff, Australian basketballerRyan Brooks, American basketballerRyan Cabrera, American pop rock singer and musicianRyan Cartwright, American actorRyan Conbeer, Welsh rugby union playerRyan Coughlin, Canadian football playerRyan DalzielRyan Donaldson, English footballerRyan Drummond, American voice actor, actor, singer and comedianRyan Dunn, actor in TV show Jackass and stuntmanRyan EigenmannRyan Esson, Scottish goalkeeperRyan Fulton, Scottish football playerRyan Getzlaf, Canadian ice hockey playerRyan Giggs, Manchester United footballer and former Wales internationalRyan Gosling, Canadian actorRyan Hale, American football playerRyan Hall (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Harris (disambiguation)Ryan Harrison (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Harwood, Australian rules footballerRyan Higa, YouTuberRyan Howard, American All Star major league baseball playerRyan Jimmo, Canadian mixed martial arts fighterRyan Johnson (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Jones (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Kalish, American major league baseball playerRyan Kent, English football playerRyan Kesler, American ice hockey playerRyan Lavarnway, American baseball playerRyan Leaf, American football playerRyan Lee (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Lester, Australian rules footballerRyan Lewis, American musicianRyan Lochte, American swimmerRyan Malone, American ice hockey playerRyan Martinez, American mixed martial artistRyan Morgan, Australian Rugby League playerRyan Nelsen, New Zealand footballerRyan Newman, American actressRyan Newman, American NASCAR driverRyan Ochoa, American actorRyan O'Malley, American baseball playerRyan O'Malley (American football), American football playerRyan O'Neal, American television and film actorRyan Phillippe, American actorRyan Pickett (filmmaker), American film directorRyan Powell (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Reynolds, Canadian actorRyan Max Riley, American World Cup skier and humoristRyan Roberts, American major league baseball playerRyan Ross, American musicianRyan Rowland-Smith, Australian baseball playerRyan Seacrest, American talk-show hostRyan Searle, Australian baseball playerRyan Sheckler, American professional skateboarderRyan Sherriff, American baseball playerRyan Simpkins (rugby league), Australian Rugby League playerRyan Sitton, Texas politicianRyan Smyth, former Canadian NHL ice hockey playerRyan Star, American singer-songwriterRyan Stiles, American comedianRyan Tafazolli, English-Iranian football playerRyan Taylor (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Tedder, American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producerRyan ten Doeschate, Dutch cricketerRyan Thomas, English actorRyan Tubridy, Irish broadcasterRyan Van Dyke, American football playerRyan Walter, Canadian former professional ice hockey playerRyan Waters, American mountaineer, guide, polar adventurer and speakerRyan Wheeler, American baseball playerRyan White, AIDS activistRyan Williams (disambiguation), multiple peopleRyan Atwood, a troubled teenager on the FOX television series The O.C.Ryan Hardy, former FBI agent on Fox's The FollowingRyan Howard (The Office), the temp from NBC's The OfficeRyan Laserbeam, from Nickelodeon's True Jackson VPRyan Lavery, a father on the American daytime drama All My Children'Ryan O'Reily, inmate on HBO prison drama OzRyan Steele, from VR TroopersRyan Wolfe, from CSI: MiamiTyphoon Ryan (1992), a category 4 typhoon from August 30 to September 11Rayen Castle, an adobe castle in Kerman Province, Iran 