Ryle
An English masculine name derived from a surname meaning "a small stream".
Name Census estimates that about 461 living Americans carry the first name Ryle. It is a predominantly male name (92.5% of registrations). The average person named Ryle today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ryle births was 2023 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ryle. 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 Ryle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
461
~ 1 in 743,502 Americans
Peak year
2023
29 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,153
Tracked since 1976
Census
Ryle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 656 people with the first name Ryle, which placed it at #16,994 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
#16,994
National first-name rank
People counted
656
656 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ryle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryle is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.0%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Ryle 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 Ryle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.1% · 447
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.0% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 55
- Black or African American6.1% · 40
- Two or more races5.5% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Ryle
Ryle leans heavily male at 92.5% of total registrations, but 35 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ryle as a male name
- Ranked #4,153 in 2024
- 26 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (29 births)
Ryle as a female name
- Ranked #16,153 in 2014
- 6 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2001 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ryle on both sides of the split. Of the 656 people counted with this name, 428 were male (65.2%) and 228 were female (34.8%).
Popularity
Ryle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ryle from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 142 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ryle 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 Ryle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ryles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ryle
The given name Ryle is an English name of Old English origin, derived from the Old English word "ryle," which means "a shallow brook or stream." It can also be traced back to the Old English word "ryge," meaning "a ridge or hill." The name likely originated in rural areas of England, where such geographic features were common.
The earliest recorded use of Ryle as a given name dates back to the late 16th century, though the name may have been in use earlier. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Ryle Williams, an English farmer who lived in the village of Coleshill, Warwickshire, in the late 1500s.
In the 17th century, the name gained some prominence with the birth of Ryle Symonds (1629-1692), an English clergyman and author who served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1688 until his death. Symonds was known for his scholarly works on theology and his contributions to the Church of England.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ryle Holden (1718-1790), an English architect and surveyor who was responsible for the design and construction of several notable buildings in London, including the Royal Exchange and the Guildhall.
In the 19th century, the name Ryle became closely associated with the Anglican clergyman and writer John Charles Ryle (1816-1900). Ryle was a prominent figure in the evangelical movement within the Church of England and served as the Bishop of Liverpool from 1880 until his death. He was widely respected for his preaching, writing, and advocacy for social reform.
Another famous bearer of the name was Ryle Wright (1871-1959), an American architect who was known for his work in the Prairie School style of architecture. Wright designed several notable buildings in Chicago and the surrounding area, including the Robie House and the Frederick C. Robie Residence.
While the name Ryle has never been exceptionally common, it has maintained a small but consistent presence throughout history, particularly in England and North America. Its connection to the natural world and its association with notable figures in the fields of religion, architecture, and literature have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Ryle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ryle 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
Ryle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ryle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 461 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ryle 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 743,502 US residents.
Is Ryle a common name?
We classify Ryle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 467 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ryle most popular?
The single biggest year for Ryle was 2023, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ryle is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ryle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 656 people with the name Ryle, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,994 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 Ryle 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 Ryle?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ryle on both sides of the split. Of the 656 people counted with this name, 428 were male (65.2%) and 228 were female (34.8%). 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 Ryle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryle is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.0%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Ryle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ryle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.1% (447 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 Ryle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ryle a male name?
Yes, 92.5% of people registered as Ryle 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 Ryle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ryle 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 Ryle 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 Americans are named Ryle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.