Ryan
Usually a boy's name
- Meaning
- Irish surname, 'descendant of Rian'; Rian may come from 'king', or its sense is lost Likely
Often said to mean 'little king'; one surname dictionary backs a link to 'king', others call the meaning unknown.
- Origin
- Irish surname
- Popularity
US 2025: #99 (boys) · England and Wales 2025: #135
Popularity: US Social Security Administration 2025; Office for National Statistics 2025, England and Wales. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
This name's meaning doesn't link to one of the five elements, so it isn't matched to a chart here.
Sources
- Wiktionary: Ryan
- Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, A Dictionary of First Names (OUP, 2006): Ryan, Encyclopedia.com copy
- Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923): Ó Riaghain
- Dictionary of American Family Names (OUP, 2nd ed., 2022): Ryan, Ancestry copy
- Wikipedia: Ryan (given name), citing Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, and MacLysaght