Rhyan
Of Celtic origin, meaning "little king" or "youthful".
Name Census estimates that about 4,474 living Americans carry the first name Rhyan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Rhyan today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rhyan births was 2018 (203 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rhyan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rhyan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 76,610 Americans
Peak year
2018
203 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,706
Tracked since 1969
Census
Rhyan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,463 people with the first name Rhyan, which placed it at #5,079 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,079
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,463 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rhyan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhyan is White at 47.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Hispanic (9.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rhyan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rhyan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.8% · 1,657
- Black or African American32.6% · 1,129
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 315
- Two or more races5.9% · 205
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 117
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 40
Gender
Gender distribution for Rhyan
Rhyan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,545 total registrations, 1,496 (32.9%) were male and 3,049 (67.1%) were female.
Rhyan as a male name
- Ranked #4,829 in 2024
- 21 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (66 births)
Rhyan as a female name
- Ranked #2,706 in 2024
- 64 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (165 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rhyan on both sides of the split. Of the 3,462 people counted with this name, 1,174 were male (33.9%) and 2,288 were female (66.1%).
Popularity
Rhyan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rhyan from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,601 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rhyan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rhyan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rhyan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rhyans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Rhyan, while Mississippi, Colorado, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 73 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rhyan
The given name Rhyan is a modern variant spelling of the name Ryan, which has its origins in the Irish Gaelic language. Historically, the name Ryan is derived from the Irish surname Ó Riain or Ó Mulriain, meaning "descendant of Rian" or "son of the little king."
The name Rhyan, like Ryan, can be traced back to ancient Ireland, where it was first used as a surname. The earliest recorded instances of the name Ryan date back to the 12th century, with notable historical figures such as Ryán Mor, a 12th-century Irish chieftain and King of Idrone.
In the centuries that followed, the name Ryan gained popularity and became a common first name among the Irish people. Historically, it was associated with nobility, leadership, and strength, reflecting its origins as a surname derived from the word "king."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the first name Rhyan was Rhyan O'Malley, an Irish poet and bard who lived in the 16th century. His works were widely celebrated and preserved in the annals of Irish literature.
Another noteworthy figure was Rhyan Fitzsimmons, a 17th-century Irish soldier who fought in the Confederate Wars of the mid-1600s. His bravery and valor in battle earned him a place in the historical records of that era.
In the 18th century, Rhyan O'Connor, an Irish political activist and writer, played a significant role in advocating for Irish independence and preserving Irish culture and traditions.
During the 19th century, Rhyan Doherty, an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist, made a name for himself in the United States. He was widely respected for his contributions to the community and his support for various charitable causes.
Moving into the 20th century, Rhyan Kelly, an Irish-born actor and playwright, gained recognition for his work in theater and on the silver screen. His performances brought the name Rhyan to a wider audience and added to its cultural significance.
People
Rhyan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rhyan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rhyan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rhyan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,474 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rhyan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 76,610 US residents.
Is Rhyan a common name?
We classify Rhyan as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,545 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rhyan most popular?
The single biggest year for Rhyan was 2018, when 203 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rhyan is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rhyan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,463 people with the name Rhyan, or 1.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,079 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rhyan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rhyan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rhyan on both sides of the split. Of the 3,462 people counted with this name, 1,174 were male (33.9%) and 2,288 were female (66.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rhyan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhyan is White at 47.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Hispanic (9.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rhyan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rhyan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.8% (1,657 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rhyan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rhyan a female name?
Yes, 67.1% of people registered as Rhyan in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rhyan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rhyan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rhyan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Rhyan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.