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The first name 
Ryan

Ryan is a male first name. In very rare cases it is also used for girls.

The name Ryan is very popular!

The first name Ryan is one of the top 100 most popular boys names in the US – currently at #42 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Ryan, accounting for approximately 0.40 % of all newborn boys. In total, there are currently 972,567 people – children, adults and seniors – named Ryan living in the United States, which is approximately 0.29 % of the entire population.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Ryan

What does the name 
Ryan mean?

Ryan is a name of Irish or Celtic origin. Derived from the Old Irish name Rian or Rían, the first name is probably derived from the word ‘ri’ (‘little king’ or ‘illustrious’).

Ryan is a name shared by many famous people

A versatile musician

Ryan Adams (*1974)
His career began as the frontman of the alternative country band 'Whiskeytown' in the 1990s. He then released his debut album 'Heartbreaker' in 2000 to widespread critical acclaim. The album is considered a milestone of alternative country. Since then, he has released numerous albums and established himself as one of the most prolific and versatile singer-songwriters of his generation. Adams musical style is very flexible and ranges from alternative country to folk, rock, and pop.

A Canadian actor

Ryan Gosling (*1980)
Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor, film director, screenwriter and musician. He began his career as a child star in the Disney series 'The Mickey Mouse Club' (1993 - 1995) and has since appeared in a variety of film and television roles. His breakthrough came with the role of the romantic hero in the film 'The Notebook' (2004), which became a commercial and critical success and brought him wider attention. Gosling also has a career as a director and musician. Thus, he was a member of the band 'Dead Man's Bones' and made his directorial debut with the film 'Lost River' (2014).

A comedian actor

Ryan Reynolds (*1976)
Canadian actor and film producer Ryan Reynolds began his career as a teenager in Canadian television series and has since starred in a variety of film and television roles, for example: 'Blade: Trinity' (2004), 'Buried' (2010) and 'Self/less' (2015). Reynolds also has a career as a producer and founded his own production company called 'Maximum Effort' in 2018. He has also produced several films, including 'Free Guy' (2021) and 'Deadpool' (2016).

A writer and computer programmer

Ryan North (*1980)
Since 2003, Ryan North, a Canadian writer and computer programmer, has been publishing the webcomic series 'Dinosaur Comics'. The series is about a T-Rex, a Utahraptor and a Dromiceiomimus who talk to each other about various topics in front of a fixed panel. The series has received several awards and has been included in best lists multiple times. In addition to this comic, the Canadian has published several books, such as 'How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller' (2018).

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Ryan, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Ryan? Are you also called Ryan? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

Ryan Glacier...

is an about 1.864 mi (3 km) long glacier on South Georgia. It is named after Alfredo R. L. Ryan, who was president of the Grytviken-based whaling company Compaña Argentina de Pesca from 1946.

Near South Georgia...

you will also find Ryan Reef, an isolated rocky reef located 0.5 nautical miles (900 m) north of the eastern boundary of the entrance to Doris Bay.

The division of Ryan...

an Australian Electoral Division was created in 1949 and is named after T. J. Ryan, Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919.

Mount Ryan...

is an approximately 10,499 ft. (3200 m) tall mountain in West Antarctica's Ellsworthland. It rises between Mount Shear and Mount Gardner in the main ridge of the Ellsworth Mountains.

Ryan -
a name for the future?

This is a real surprise! Ryan is a name that has been around for a long time, but only really took off in the 21st century. In the year 2004, it reached its best rank at #10 according to our SmartGenius statistics. This makes Ryan much more popular than in previous generations, where it was so rare for several years that it was not even recorded in the statistics. While the name Ryan was observed for the first time ever in 1906, it now seems to have found its place in the zeitgeist of the 21st century. In 2004, the year of its highest popularity, the name was given a total of 20,195 times. Whether this beautiful boys' name can repeat or even exceed its previous best ranking in the coming years remains to be seen, but the prospects are promising given the positive trend.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Ryan was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

Ryan - cementing the new path

In 2022, Ryan ranked #67 in our SmartGenius statistics. In absolute figures, this means it was given to baby boys a total of 4,885 times. No one knows what names (or combinations of numbers and letters) will be popular 50 years from now, but given its popularity in the early years of this millennium, there is a good chance that Ryan will not disappear from the screen anytime soon.

Ryan -
at home all over the USA, especially popular in New Hampshire

Wherever you go, wherever you live – there’s a good chance to meet Ryan. Because: There are men and boys named Ryan in every state in the USA. This may sound quite unspectacular at first, but in fact, of the nearly 50,000 different male first names that occur in the USA, just 386 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Ryan is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 100 of the most popular male first names, for example in Nevada, where Ryan ranks on position 14. The greatest chance of meeting Ryan, however, is in New Hampshire, where one in 90 boys and men bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 176 men and boys and in Mississippi, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 479 men and boys for their name before you once get Ryan as an answer.

Ryan has 4 letters 
and begins with an R

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter R is quite common as an initial letter for boys’ names. To be precise, 5.2% of all boys' names in the US begin with this letter. The most common first letters of boys' names, by the way, are J, A and D.

With four letters, the name Ryan is shorter than most other given names. In fact, only 5.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly four letters. Just 1.2% of all first names are even shorter, while 93% consist of more than four letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

Therefore: As 5.2% of all boys' names start with R, this initial letter occurs much more often than all 26 letters on average. And maybe interesting to know: of all the names that begin with an R, Robert is the most common.

Other names with 
R, y, a and n

If you take all the letters in the name Ryan – R, y, a and n – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Rayn or others.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Ryan

If your name is Ryan and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Ryan

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Ryan, you can simply say:

Rocket

Yoyo

Apple

Nut

This is how the name Ryan is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Ryan in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Ryan

Ryan

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Ryan

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Ryan is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

R
Y
A
N

Have you ever waved the name Ryan

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

R
Y
A
N

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Ryan sounds like this: