Ryan
An Irish name derived from the surname Ryan, meaning "little king".
Name Census estimates that about 953,226 living Americans carry the first name Ryan. It sits at #87 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (97.2% of registrations). The average person named Ryan today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ryan births was 1985 (30,479 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Timothy (944,752).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ryan. 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 Ryan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ryan is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 27,225 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
953K
~ 1 in 360 Americans
Peak year
1985
30,479 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#87
Tracked since 1906
Census
Ryan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 874,270 people with the first name Ryan, which placed it at #34 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
#34
National first-name rank
People counted
874K
874,270 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
289.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ryan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryan is White at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Ryan 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 Ryan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.0% · 699,206
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 62,603
- Black or African American4.4% · 38,772
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 36,371
- Two or more races3.7% · 32,438
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4,880
Gender
Gender distribution for Ryan
Ryan leans heavily male at 97.2% of total registrations, but 27,225 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ryan as a male name
- Ranked #87 in 2024
- 3,892 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1985 (29,909 births)
Ryan as a female name
- Ranked #702 in 2024
- 399 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (866 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ryan leans strongly male. 853,642 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 20,627 female bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Ryan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ryan from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 285,131 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ryan 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 Ryan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ryans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Ryan, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19,294 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ryan
The name Ryan is derived from the Irish surname Ó Riain, which means "descendant of Rian". Rian is an old Irish personal name that is thought to be derived from the Celtic word "rí", meaning "king". The name Ryan has its roots in ancient Celtic culture and language.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ryan dates back to the 16th century in Ireland. It was originally a surname, but over time, it transitioned into being used as a given name as well. The name gained popularity in the English-speaking world during the 19th century.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Ryan was Ryan O'Mulryan, an Irish chieftain who lived in the 16th century. He was a prominent figure in the O'Mulryan clan and played a role in the Irish Confederate Wars.
Another notable Ryan in history was Liadain and Cuirithir, two Irish poets from the 7th century who were known for their tragic love story. Liadain's real name was Rian, and she is sometimes referred to as Rian Liadain.
In the 18th century, Ryan Giggs was a Welsh Anglican priest and author who wrote several works on theology and philosophy.
In the 19th century, Ryan O'Neill was an Irish nationalist and journalist who played a significant role in the Irish Home Rule movement.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Ryan in modern times is Ryan Gosling, the Canadian actor known for his roles in films such as "The Notebook", "La La Land", and "Drive". He was born in 1980.
The name Ryan has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in Ireland and the Celtic world. It has evolved from an ancient personal name to a popular given name in many parts of the world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ryan
People
Ryan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ryan 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
Ryan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ryan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 953,226 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ryan 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 360 US residents.
Is Ryan a common name?
We classify Ryan as "Very Common". It ranks above 100% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 987,785 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ryan most popular?
The single biggest year for Ryan was 1985, when 30,479 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ryan is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ryan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 874,270 people with the name Ryan, or 289.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34 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 Ryan 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 Ryan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ryan leans strongly male. 853,642 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 20,627 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Ryan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryan is White at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Ryan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ryan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.0% (699,206 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 Ryan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ryan a male name?
Yes, 97.2% of people registered as Ryan in the SSA data are male. 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 Ryan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ryan 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 Ryan 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 Ryan as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.