Ryan

Irish

"little king"

Ryan Origin and Meaning

The name Ryan is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "little king".

This ultrapopular boys' name is rapidly becoming a hot name for girls; admired for its buoyant Irish spirit.

Ryan returned to the Top 500 for girls in 2015 and will no doubt continue to climb further on the back of the success of blockbuster film Gravity.

A word of caution, however – the meaning and the movie reference may leave your daughter feeling as though you wished she were a son You may wish to go with Rion instead, which is similar in sound and means Queen in Irish. Rion is pronounced ree-on, which introduces problems of its own.

Ryan Rank in US Top 1000

# 702 in the US

Ryan Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1224 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Ryan

• 702 US 2024
• 1224 Nameberry 2025
• 434 Future 2028

20 Names Similar to Ryan

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Ryan.

• Logan
• Presley
• Hayden
• Saige
• Dylan
• Carson
• Blakely
• Hadlee
• Annistyn
• Noah
• Carter
• Mckinley
• Layne
• Reagan
• Mackenna
• Shay
• Payton
• Karsyn
• Saylor
• Ashton

Famous People Named Ryan

• Ryan Whitney Newman American actress
• Ryan Starr (born Tiffany Ryan Montgomery) American pop singer; finalist on "American Idol"
• Ryan Haddon American journalist and TV producer
• Ryan Destiny (Irons) American actress and singer
• Ryan Elizabeth Wallace daughter of actors Lisa Trusel and David Wallace
• Ryan Elizabeth Peete daughter of NFL player Rodney Peete and actress Holly Robinson Peete; twin of brother Rodney Jr.
• Ryan Kate Brandenburg competitor on TV's "Master Chef Junior," daughter of baseball player Mark Brandenburg
• Ryan Williams American soccer player
• Ryan Justine Stewart (b. 2008) daughter of actor Josh Stewart
• Ryan Elizabeth Jones (b. 2009) quintuplet daughter of Ethan and Casey Jones of TV's "Quints by Surprise"
• Ryan Ruby Mae Pritchard (b. 2010) daughter of musician Mike Dirnt
• Ryan Elizabeth Shaw Hayes (b. 2011), daughter of TV journalist Chris Hayes
• Ryan Fuller (b. 2013) daughter of model Tori Praver and surfer Danny Fuller
• Ryan James Vandermeer (b. 2014) daughter of ice hockey player Jim Vandermeer
• Ryan Ava Erhard Rosenberg (b. 2015) daughter of American actress Haylie Duff and Matt Rosenberg; sister of Lulu Gray
• Ryan Carson Curry (b. 2015) daughter of basketball player Stephen Curry

The name Ryan in Pop Culture

• Dr. Ryan Stone main character in film "Gravity"
• Ryan Fitzpatrick character in HERInteractive's "The Deadly Device"
• Ryan Woods character on Netflix original series "Greenhouse Academy"