Find out how popular the last name Ryan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ryan.

Ryan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ryan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ryan in America

Ryan is the 193rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ryan surname appeared 143,452 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 49 people would have the surname Ryan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ryan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ryan

The surname Ryan is an anglicized form of the ancient Irish name Ó Riain or Ó Mulriain, which means "descendant of Rían" or "descendant of Mulrían." It originated in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is derived from the old Irish name "Rían," meaning "little king" or "kinglet."

The earliest recorded bearer of the name was Mulrian, who was the chief of the Hy Feran tribe in Tipperary in the 10th century. The variant Ó Mulriain was first recorded in 1172 when Muircheartach Ó Mulriain, the bishop of Emly, signed a charter granting lands to the monastery of Cambuskenneth in Scotland.

The Ryan surname is believed to have been first anglicized in the late 16th century during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. One of the earliest recorded instances of the anglicized spelling was in 1601 when Donell O'Ryan, a member of the Milesian Irish nobility, was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth I.

In the 17th century, the Ryan surname spread throughout Ireland, particularly in the provinces of Munster and Leinster. Notable bearers of the name from this period include Barnaby Ryan (1628-1700), a Catholic priest and prolific writer, and John Ryan (1640-1695), a Catholic bishop and supporter of the Jacobite cause.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, many Irish Ryans emigrated to America, Canada, and other parts of the British Empire due to political and economic upheaval in Ireland. Among the notable Ryans from this period were Jeremiah Ryan (1768-1847), an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist, and Abram Joseph Ryan (1838-1886), a Catholic priest and poet known as the "Poet-Priest of the Confederacy."

Other famous individuals with the Ryan surname include Mary Ryan (1779-1847), an Irish immigrant to Australia who became the first female settler in the colony of Victoria, and Thomas Fortune Ryan (1851-1928), an American businessman and financier who founded the Equitable Life Assurance Society.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ryan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ryan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ryan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ryan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ryan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ryan, please contact us.

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