Rynn
A unisex name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a Middle English term for "stream".
Name Census estimates that about 386 living Americans carry the first name Rynn. It is a predominantly female name (91.3% of registrations). The average person named Rynn today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rynn births was 2022 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rynn. 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.
People living today
386
~ 1 in 887,965 Americans
Peak year
2022
47 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2022 SSA rank
#4,262
Tracked since 1990
Census
Rynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 338 people with the first name Rynn, which placed it at #27,177 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
#27,177
National first-name rank
People counted
338
338 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rynn is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Rynn 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 Rynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.0% · 250
- Two or more races7.1% · 24
- Black or African American6.5% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Rynn
Rynn leans heavily female at 91.3% of total registrations, but 34 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rynn as a male name
- Ranked #10,638 in 2022
- 7 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2020 (9 births)
Rynn as a female name
- Ranked #4,262 in 2024
- 34 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (40 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rynn on both sides of the split. Of the 333 people counted with this name, 104 were male (31.2%) and 229 were female (68.8%).
Popularity
Rynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rynn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 193 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
Rynn 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 Rynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rynns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rynn
The name Rynn is a relatively modern variation of the traditional Irish name Riona or Riona. It is believed to have originated in the Gaelic language, which has its roots in the ancient Celtic cultures of Ireland and Scotland. The name Riona itself is thought to be derived from the Old Irish word "rí," meaning "king" or "ruler," suggesting a connection to royalty or authority.
In its earliest forms, the name Riona was typically spelled with an "i" or "y" after the initial "R," such as Riana or Ryana. These variations can be traced back to medieval Ireland, where they were used as feminine given names, particularly among the noble classes and ruling families. Records of individuals bearing this name can be found in ancient Irish genealogies and historical texts dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries.
One of the earliest documented references to a person named Riona can be found in the "Annals of Ulster," a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a woman named Riona ingen Ruaidrí, who lived in the late 11th century and was the daughter of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, a prominent Irish king.
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance period, the name Riona remained popular among Irish nobility and was occasionally adopted by members of royal families in other parts of Europe. One notable example is Riona Fitzwilliam (1445-1512), an English noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth of York.
In more recent times, the spelling variation "Rynn" has emerged as a modern adaptation of the traditional Irish name. While the origins of this particular spelling are unclear, it may have been influenced by the anglicization of Irish names or a desire for a more unique and distinctive form.
Among the notable individuals named Rynn in history are Rynn Duffy (1879-1936), an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 20th century, and Rynn Williams (1923-2005), a Welsh actress and singer who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, Rynn Jacobs (1932-2014) was a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public art installations.
People
Rynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rynn 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
Rynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 386 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rynn 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 887,965 US residents.
Is Rynn a common name?
We classify Rynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 389 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Rynn was 2022, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rynn is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 338 people with the name Rynn, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,177 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 Rynn 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 Rynn?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rynn on both sides of the split. Of the 333 people counted with this name, 104 were male (31.2%) and 229 were female (68.8%). 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 Rynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rynn is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Rynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.0% (250 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 Rynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rynn a female name?
Yes, 91.3% of people registered as Rynn 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 Rynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rynn 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 Rynn 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 Rynn?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Rynn, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.