Ryan
Ryan is given to both girls and boys: 393 girls and 3,532 boys were given it in 2025 (#715 among girls’ names and #99 among boys’, #148 among all names counting both); 991,747 Americans have been recorded with it since 1906 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 946,000 Americans named Ryan and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (95% of everyone recorded); the median is 34 years old and half are between 23 and 43.
Ryan is the #23 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ryan by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ryan mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ryan is “a male given name transferred from the surname, popular in English-speaking countries from the 1970s to the 1990s.”
Also “a male given name from Arabic رَيَّان (rayyān). Sometimes written and pronounced as Ryan in English due to the phonetic similarity with the Arabic name.”
/ˈɹaɪən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ryan?
#99 among boys’ names, 2025
Ryan fell from #39 in 2015 to #99 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 4.5 to 2.1 per 1,000.
30,475 babies in 1985, the peak
Ryan peaked in 1985, when 30,475 babies were given it (29,905 boys, #12 among boys’ names). The 3,925 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 13% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3,532 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 3,906 | #87 | 2.3 |
| 2023 | 4,035 | #83 | 2.4 |
| 2022 | 4,403 | #74 | 2.5 |
| 2021 | 4,735 | #66 | 2.7 |
| 2020 | 5,348 | #57 | 3.1 |
| 2019 | 6,127 | #54 | 3.4 |
| 2018 | 6,943 | #46 | 3.8 |
| 2017 | 7,706 | #44 | 4.2 |
| 2016 | 8,261 | #40 | 4.4 |
Every recorded year (114)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8,548 | #39 | 4.5 |
| 2014 | 9,098 | #37 | 4.7 |
| 2013 | 9,895 | #30 | 5.2 |
| 2012 | 10,944 | #26 | 5.8 |
| 2011 | 11,503 | #25 | 6.1 |
| 2010 | 11,981 | #23 | 6.2 |
| 2009 | 13,122 | #20 | 6.6 |
| 2008 | 14,686 | #18 | 7.2 |
| 2007 | 15,722 | #16 | 7.6 |
| 2006 | 16,434 | #14 | 8.0 |
| 2005 | 17,990 | #14 | 9.0 |
| 2004 | 19,496 | #12 | 9.8 |
| 2003 | 19,578 | #13 | 9.9 |
| 2002 | 17,658 | #16 | 9.1 |
| 2001 | 18,289 | #15 | 9.4 |
| 2000 | 20,269 | #13 | 10.3 |
| 1999 | 21,014 | #12 | 10.9 |
| 1998 | 20,198 | #17 | 10.6 |
| 1997 | 20,527 | #16 | 10.9 |
| 1996 | 21,809 | #16 | 11.5 |
| 1995 | 23,089 | #15 | 12.1 |
| 1994 | 24,063 | #16 | 12.5 |
| 1993 | 26,727 | #13 | 13.6 |
| 1992 | 27,022 | #13 | 13.5 |
| 1991 | 27,536 | #11 | 13.6 |
| 1990 | 29,263 | #11 | 14.2 |
| 1989 | 28,408 | #13 | 14.2 |
| 1988 | 27,747 | #13 | 14.5 |
| 1987 | 28,490 | #13 | 15.3 |
| 1986 | 29,524 | #11 | 16.0 |
| 1985 | 29,905 | #12 | 16.2 |
| 1984 | 28,724 | #12 | 15.9 |
| 1983 | 27,849 | #13 | 15.5 |
| 1982 | 26,685 | #13 | 14.7 |
| 1981 | 26,811 | #13 | 15.0 |
| 1980 | 24,795 | #15 | 13.9 |
| 1979 | 23,212 | #14 | 13.5 |
| 1978 | 21,322 | #14 | 13.0 |
| 1977 | 21,246 | #16 | 12.9 |
| 1976 | 17,484 | #16 | 11.1 |
| 1975 | 15,296 | #23 | 9.8 |
| 1974 | 13,179 | #25 | 8.4 |
| 1973 | 10,511 | #30 | 6.7 |
| 1972 | 8,878 | #39 | 5.5 |
| 1971 | 6,184 | #51 | 3.5 |
| 1970 | 2,323 | #140 | 1.3 |
| 1969 | 2,245 | #135 | 1.3 |
| 1968 | 2,166 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1967 | 1,927 | #147 | 1.1 |
| 1966 | 1,573 | #171 | 0.88 |
| 1965 | 1,084 | #221 | 0.58 |
| 1964 | 515 | #347 | 0.26 |
| 1963 | 647 | #310 | 0.32 |
| 1962 | 397 | #405 | 0.19 |
| 1961 | 388 | #402 | 0.18 |
| 1960 | 380 | #408 | 0.18 |
| 1959 | 400 | #397 | 0.19 |
| 1958 | 308 | #446 | 0.15 |
| 1957 | 278 | #461 | 0.13 |
| 1956 | 192 | #548 | 0.09 |
| 1955 | 176 | #553 | 0.09 |
| 1954 | 132 | #639 | 0.06 |
| 1953 | 145 | #603 | 0.07 |
| 1952 | 126 | #625 | 0.06 |
| 1951 | 105 | #680 | 0.06 |
| 1950 | 99 | #689 | 0.06 |
| 1949 | 102 | #679 | 0.06 |
| 1948 | 82 | #750 | 0.05 |
| 1947 | 102 | #689 | 0.06 |
| 1946 | 65 | #818 | 0.04 |
| 1945 | 35 | #1,117 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 23 | #1,432 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 34 | #1,181 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 26 | #1,376 | 0.02 |
| 1941 | 13 | #2,073 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 18 | #1,674 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 21 | #1,483 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 8 | #2,829 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 14 | #1,976 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 13 | #2,048 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 11 | #2,375 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 13 | #2,104 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 11 | #2,347 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 14 | #2,080 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 15 | #1,987 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 14 | #2,155 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 6 | #3,889 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 14 | #2,249 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 9 | #3,106 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 14 | #2,282 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,301 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 7 | #3,799 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 10 | #2,905 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,482 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 17 | #2,043 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 12 | #2,579 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 6 | #4,094 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 12 | #2,513 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,162 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 7 | #3,454 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,423 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,463 | 0.01 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,707 | 0.03 |
| 1906 | 10 | #844 | 0.08 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Ryan a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 991,747 Americans recorded as Ryan, 3% are girls and 97% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Ryan: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ryan, and how old are they?
946,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 95% of the 991,747 Americans ever recorded as Ryan. The median Ryan alive today is 34 years old; half are between 23 and 43.
The 2020 Census counted 874,269 people named Ryan (20,627 women and girls, 853,642 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 931,064 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 74 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,350 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 160,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 420,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 273,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 89,700 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ryan born?
The states with the most babies named Ryan are California, New York and Texas, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 121,847 | #80 | 0.9× |
| New York | 66,583 | #45 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 59,476 | #112 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 54,213 | #76 | 1.3× |
| Illinois | 48,906 | #103 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 47,471 | #155 | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 42,369 | #152 | 1.2× |
| Florida | 41,864 | #68 | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 35,200 | #44 | 1.2× |
| Massachusetts | 29,809 | #49 | 1.3× |
Where Ryan is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ryan is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ryan with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,024,291 babies since 1880, Ryan is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 3,925 of their 4,532 babies (87%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ryan
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ryan and names like it
- Compare Ryan and RyannBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sRyan peaked in 1985.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ryan since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Ryan: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1985The year the most babies were named Ryan.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Ryan alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with RMost given first.