Ryan

• (surname anglicized from Ó Riaghain, Ó Riain): O'Ryan
• (male given name): Rian
• (female given name): Ryann, Ryanne, Ryana

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪən/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪən

Ryan (countable and uncountable, plural Ryans)

1. A surname
   1. A surname from Irish, anglicized from Ó Riaghain, Ó Riain (“descendant of Riaghan, Rían”). Riaghan/Rían is perhaps from rí (“king”) + -án (diminutive suffix), meaning “little king”.
   2. A surname from Irish, an alternate anglicization of Ó Maoilriaghain, Ó Maoilriain (Mulryan).
   3. A surname from Irish, a rare anglicization of Ó Ruadháin, Ó Ruaidhín (Rowan, Rouine).
   4. A surname from Irish, a rare anglicization of Ó Sraitheáin, Ó Sruitheáin, Ó Srutháin (Strachan, Strahan).
2. A unisex given name
   1. A male given name
      1. A male given name transferred from the surname, popular in English-speaking countries from the 1970s to the 1990s.
      2. 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.
   2. A female given name
      1. A female given name transferred from the surname, of 1970s and later usage.
      2. A female given name of 1970s and later usage, variant of Rhian.
3. A placename
   1. A locale in Australia.
      1. A suburb of Mount Isa, Queensland; named for Dr. Joseph Ryan, medical superintendent of the local hospital during WWII.
      2. A village in Lockhart Shire, New South Wales.
   2. A locale in the United States.
      1. An unincorporated community in Inyo County, California; named for borax industry businessman John Ryan.
      2. An unincorporated community in Vermilion County, Illinois.
      3. A minor city in Delaware County, Iowa.
      4. An unincorporated community in Belle Creek Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota.
      5. A town in Jefferson County, Oklahoma; named for early settler and rancher Stephen W. Ryan.
      6. A township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
      7. A ghost town in Stevens County, Washington; named for early settler Henry Ryan.
      8. An unincorporated community in Roane County, West Virginia; named for early settler and minister Thomas P. Ryan.

• 1989, Garrison Keillor, We Are Still Married: Lonely Boy, →ISBN, page 308:

  "By the way, I forgot your name," she said. I bit off half a burger and chewed it slowly, thinking fast. I didn't think she'd be impressed with the name Wiscnek so I gave her a name I made up when I was little, Ryan Tremaine, a name I used when I played detective. She said, "That's such a beautiful name."

• 1999, D.W.Buffa, The Defense, →ISBN, page 109:

  He never shortened my first name because he never used it. It was part of his perpetual rebellion against West Coast informality. The barber who cut his hair still thought his first name was Ryan because that was the only name he had given the first time he called for an appointment.

• Loch Ryan
• Rye (nickname)
• Rye-Rye (childish nickname)

• Rian

• Brian, Bryan (linguistically unrelated but often confused in spoken English)
• Wikipedia article on Ryan

• Arny, N-ray, NYRA, n-ary, nary, yarn

From English Ryan, from Irish.

Ryan

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Irish]

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Ryan.

Ryan m

1. a male given name from English, equivalent to English Ryan