Irish O Riain, from ri, "king" — little king. A County Carlow and Tipperary surname that became a first name in the 1940s.
Ryan ranks 99th among American boys in 2025, with 3,925 born that year. Its best year was 1985, when 30,475 babies were given the name, ranking 12th. The typical living American called Ryan is about 34 years old today. It is relatively most common in New Hampshire, where it accounts for 0.28% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.