How popular is the baby name Ryan in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Ryan.

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Popularity of the baby name Ryan


Posts that mention the name Ryan

Popular baby names in Canada, 2023

Flag of Canada
Flag of Canada

In June of 2023, the population of Canada finally reached 40 million.

Included in that count were roughly half of the 351,477* babies born in Canada last year.

And what were the most popular names among those newborns? Olivia and Noah, yet again.

Here are Canada’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 1,650 baby girls
  2. Emma, 1,416
  3. Charlotte, 1,412
  4. Amelia, 1,102
  5. Sophia, 1,051
  6. Mia, 924
  7. Chloe, 920
  8. Mila, 915
  9. Sofia, 887
  10. Alice, 793
  11. Ava, 772
  12. Lily, 766
  13. Isla, 759
  14. Ellie, 700
  15. Evelyn, 698
  16. Zoe, 697
  17. Nora, 681
  18. Sophie, 675
  19. Maya, 667
  20. Charlie, 647
  21. Violet, 626
  22. Aria, 613
  23. Florence, 611 (tie)
  24. Isabella, 611 (tie)
  25. Abigail, 608
  26. Ella, 599
  27. Emily, 588
  28. Hannah, 578 (tie)
  29. Hazel, 578 (tie)
  30. Elizabeth, 571
  31. Clara, 562
  32. Rose, 540
  33. Ivy, 533 (tie)
  34. Luna, 533 (tie)
  35. Eva, 527
  36. Eleanor, 503
  37. Harper, 487
  38. Aurora, 475
  39. Avery, 468
  40. Maeve, 462
  41. Victoria, 461
  42. Scarlett, 449
  43. Grace, 447
  44. Emilia, 440
  45. Layla, 432 (tie)
  46. Zoey, 432 (tie)
  47. Elena, 423
  48. Sarah, 419
  49. Livia, 416
  50. Julia, 415

Boy names

  1. Noah, 2,162 baby boys
  2. Liam, 1,813
  3. Theodore, 1,484
  4. Leo, 1,416
  5. William, 1,341
  6. Oliver, 1,245
  7. Lucas, 1,184
  8. Thomas, 1,154
  9. Benjamin, 1,134
  10. Jack, 1,132
  11. James, 1,122
  12. Jacob, 1,086
  13. Ethan, 1,012
  14. Nathan, 1,009
  15. Adam, 969
  16. Henry, 943
  17. Theo, 900
  18. Logan, 891
  19. Owen, 852
  20. Arthur, 818
  21. Levi, 816
  22. Jackson, 767
  23. Luca, 753
  24. Gabriel, 710
  25. Felix, 683
  26. Hudson 659
  27. Charles, 657
  28. Maverick, 649
  29. Daniel, 635
  30. Louis, 623
  31. Muhammad, 619
  32. Samuel, 614
  33. Elijah, 596
  34. Alexander, 588
  35. Caleb, 578
  36. Mason, 566
  37. Nolan, 552
  38. Isaac, 545
  39. Jayden, 531
  40. Aiden, 514
  41. Ryan, 512
  42. Edouard, 502
  43. Mateo, 496
  44. Miles, 490
  45. Michael, 485
  46. Luke, 481
  47. David, 477
  48. Matteo, 474
  49. Bennett, 469 (tie)
  50. Elliot, 469 (tie)

(The #1 names were the same in Alberta, but not in Quebec.)

Among Canada’s fastest-rising baby names were the girl names Sofia, Lainey, and Maeve and the boy names Zorawar, Myles, and Henry.

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were given to just 5 babies each in Canada last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Audelie, Brie, Celestia, Dasha, Evaluna, Fawn, Gretchen, Harseerat, Icelynn, Jaylah, Kismet, Leony, Melona, Nimar, Ozalee, Philomene, Richelle, Scotia, Twila, Vedika, Walker, Yi, ZirwaAeson, Banner, Chesky, Deedar, Eloic, Fitzroy, Gohan, Huck, Ilay, Jibrael, Kebron, Lemmy, Masten, Noble, Omid, Poyraz, Rantegh, Scottie, Tao, Veeran, Willard, Yichen, Zuhair

Finally, here are Canada’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

*Total excludes babies born in Yukon.

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators – Statistics Canada, Canada’s population reaches 40 million – Statistics Canada, The Daily – Births and stillbirths, 2023 – Statistics Canada

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)

Popular baby names in Puerto Rico, 2023

Flag of Puerto Rico
Flag of Puerto Rico

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico welcomes roughly 19,000 babies per year.

Last year, the most popular baby names in Puerto Rico were Valentina and Thiago.

Here are Puerto Rico’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Valentina, 177 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 113 (tie)
  3. Emma, 113 (tie)
  4. Victoria, 100
  5. Catalina, 94 (tie)
  6. Luna, 94 (tie)
  7. Amaia, 89 (tie)
  8. Gianna, 89 (tie)
  9. Isabella, 88
  10. Alaia, 82
  11. Mia, 80
  12. Mikaela, 78
  13. Ainara, 75 (tie)
  14. Amira, 75 (tie)
  15. Milena, 70
  16. Amalia, 68
  17. Amanda, 66
  18. Antonella, 65
  19. Camila, 62
  20. Amelia, 61
  21. Elena, 57 (tie)
  22. Leah, 57 (tie)
  23. Paula, 56
  24. Sofia, 54
  25. Kamila, 50
  26. Gia, 47
  27. Stella, 42
  28. Mila, 41
  29. Ainhoa, 40
  30. Sophia, 39
  31. Adara, 38
  32. Lia, 36
  33. Alana, 35
  34. Amirah, 32 (4-way tie)
  35. Nahia, 32 (4-way tie)
  36. Nahiara, 32 (4-way tie)
  37. Valeria, 32 (4-way tie)
  38. Andrea, 31
  39. Paulette, 30
  40. Alanna, 29 (tie)
  41. Brianna, 29 (tie)
  42. Adhara, 28 (4-way tie)
  43. Amahia, 28 (4-way tie)
  44. Ana, 28 (4-way tie)
  45. Gabriela, 28 (4-way tie)
  46. Paulina, 27
  47. Amaya, 25 (4-way tie)
  48. Arlet, 25 (4-way tie)
  49. Katalina, 25 (4-way tie)
  50. Mariana, 25 (4-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Thiago, 290 baby boys
  2. Liam, 264
  3. Noah, 201
  4. Mateo, 156
  5. Sebastian, 146
  6. Lucas, 140
  7. Dylan, 119
  8. Ian, 115
  9. Matias, 94
  10. Adrian, 89 (tie)
  11. Elian, 89 (tie)
  12. Jayden, 84
  13. Mauro, 79
  14. Angel, 77
  15. Milan, 76
  16. Ethan, 74
  17. Nicolas, 70
  18. Jacob, 67
  19. Fabian, 66
  20. Diego, 65
  21. Elias, 63
  22. Gael, 59
  23. Aaron, 56
  24. Isaac, 51
  25. Eithan, 50 (tie)
  26. Eliam, 50 (tie)
  27. Gian, 49
  28. Enzo, 48
  29. Evan, 45 (tie)
  30. Luis, 45 (tie)
  31. Isaias, 44 (tie)
  32. Matteo, 44 (tie)
  33. Daniel, 42
  34. Julian, 40
  35. Caleb, 37
  36. Eiden, 36 (3-way tie)
  37. Gabriel, 36 (3-way tie)
  38. Matthew, 36 (3-way tie)
  39. Carlos, 34 (tie)
  40. Santiago, 34 (tie)
  41. Aiden, 33 (3-way tie)
  42. Damian, 33 (3-way tie)
  43. Dario, 33 (3-way tie)
  44. Alejandro, 32 (tie)
  45. Amir, 32 (tie)
  46. Alan, 30
  47. Alvaro, 29 (3-way tie)
  48. Keyden, 29 (3-way tie)
  49. Ryan, 29 (3-way tie)
  50. Iker, 28 (3-way tie)
  51. Jose, 28 (3-way tie)
  52. Zaid, 28 (3-way tie)

Eiden on the boys’ list caught my attention, as Eiden was also mentioned in the SSA’s news release this year. It’s on the rise both in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico right now.

The person who wrote the news release theorized that the rise of Eiden was being fueled by Wisconsin-based influencer Wyatt Eiden. But the name’s increasing popularity in Puerto Rico — plus the fact that 40% of Eiden’s U.S. usage occurred in four states with large Spanish-speaking populations (TX, CA, NY, and FL) — makes me think the name is being used primarily among U.S.-based Latin Americans (who are probably not watching Wyatt Eiden’s English-language interview/trivia videos on TikTok).

(And now I’m thinking of a recent comment by alex, who noticed that “names that have seen some use in Caribbean Latin America for 20+ years” are starting to pop up in the U.S. data, and wondered if Venezuelan immigration might have something to do with it…)

In 2022, the top names in Puerto Rico were Valentina and Liam.

Finally, what were the most popular baby names in all the other U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands) combined last year? Olivia and Elijah.

Sources: Popular Names by Territory – SSA, State and Territorial Data – National Center for Health Statistics – CDC

Image: Adapted from Flag of Puerto Rico (public domain)

What gave the baby name Tal a boost in 1963?

The character Tal Garrett from the TV series "Empire" (1962-1963).
Tal Garrett from “Empire“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the simple name Tal saw peak usage in 1963:

  • 1965: 28 baby boys named Tal
  • 1964: 48 baby boys named Tal
  • 1963: 87 baby boys named Tal [rank: 817th]
  • 1962: 12 baby boys named Tal
  • 1961: 7 baby boys named Tal

That year, Tal was one of the fastest-rising boy names in the country, and it managed to reach the top 1,000 for the first and only time.

What was influencing it?

The single-season TV western Empire (1962-63), which featured a character named Tal.

Empire was set on a modern-day ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The main character was ranch foreman Jim Redigo (played by Richard Egan), but one of the other important characters was Tal Garrett (played by Ryan O’Neal), the adult son of the owner of the ranch.

I don’t know if Tal’s name was short for something more formal, like Talmadge or Talbot, but it rhymed with similarly spelled names, such as Cal and Hal.

Ryan O’Neal’s recurring role on Empire also gave a nudge to the baby name Ryan in 1963:

  • 1964: 515 baby boys named Ryan
  • 1963: 647 baby boys named Ryan
  • 1962: 397 baby boys named Ryan

What are your thoughts on the name Tal? Would you use it as-is, or only as a nickname?

Sources: Empire (1962 TV series) – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Screenshot of Empire

Most popular baby boy names (letter by letter) in the U.S. in 2023

First letter usage for baby boy names in the U.S. in 2023

Going letter by letter, what were last year’s most popular baby boy names?

Before we get to the lists, a few quick facts:

  • The most common first letter for boy names in 2023 was J (used 10.98% of the time), followed by A (10.51%) and M (7.60%).
  • The least common first letter for boy names in 2023 was U (used 0.15% of the time), followed by Q (0.16%) and X (0.40%).
  • The first letter that increased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was T.
  • The first letter that decreased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was J.

Top boy names starting with A:

  1. Alexander, 7,875 baby boys
  2. Asher, 7,853
  3. Aiden, 6,675
  4. Anthony, 6,237
  5. Angel, 4,865
  6. Andrew, 4,781
  7. Adrian, 4,646
  8. Aaron, 4,551
  9. Axel, 4,498
  10. Amir, 3,620

Top boy names starting with B:

  1. Benjamin, 10,172 baby boys
  2. Brooks, 4,469
  3. Bennett, 4,411
  4. Beau, 4,090
  5. Bryson, 2,434
  6. Brayden, 2,274
  7. Braxton, 2,128
  8. Bentley, 1,906
  9. Beckett, 1,865
  10. Beckham, 1,829

Top boy names starting with C:

  1. Carter, 5,847 baby boys
  2. Caleb, 5,488
  3. Cooper, 5,425
  4. Charles, 5,395
  5. Christopher, 5,171
  6. Cameron, 5,069
  7. Christian, 4,125
  8. Colton, 3,696
  9. Carson, 3,200
  10. Connor, 2,855

Top boy names starting with D:

  1. Daniel, 8,356 baby boys
  2. David, 7,354
  3. Dylan, 7,054
  4. Dominic, 3,395
  5. Damian, 3,281
  6. Declan, 2,799
  7. Diego, 2,734
  8. Dawson, 2,439
  9. Dean, 2,281
  10. Dallas, 1,375

Top boy names starting with E:

  1. Elijah, 11,452 baby boys
  2. Ezra, 8,437
  3. Ethan, 7,763
  4. Elias, 6,980
  5. Ezekiel, 5,569
  6. Eli, 4,081
  7. Everett, 3,808
  8. Enzo, 3,796
  9. Easton, 3,637
  10. Emmett, 3,061

Top boy names starting with F:

  1. Finn, 1,907 baby boys
  2. Felix, 1,894
  3. Finley, 1,171
  4. Francisco, 1,121
  5. Fernando, 967
  6. Franklin, 776
  7. Forrest, 737
  8. Francis, 670
  9. Fabian, 656
  10. Frank, 646

Top boy names starting with G:

  1. Gabriel, 6,745 baby boys
  2. Grayson, 6,449
  3. Gael, 3,616
  4. Greyson, 3,065
  5. Giovanni, 2,911
  6. George, 2,689
  7. Graham, 2,533
  8. Griffin, 1,722
  9. Grant, 1,539
  10. Gavin, 1,512

Top boy names starting with H:

  1. Henry, 10,941 baby boys
  2. Hudson, 7,935
  3. Hunter, 3,110
  4. Harrison, 3,060
  5. Hayden, 2,219
  6. Hayes, 1,746
  7. Holden, 1,171
  8. Hendrix, 1,084
  9. Harvey, 1,022
  10. Hector, 828

Top boy names starting with I:

  1. Isaac, 6,581 baby boys
  2. Isaiah, 5,121
  3. Ian, 4,538
  4. Ivan, 2,384
  5. Israel, 1,530
  6. Ismael, 1,421
  7. Iker, 915
  8. Ibrahim, 774
  9. Isaias, 700
  10. Izaiah, 491

Top boy names starting with J:

  1. James, 11,670 baby boys
  2. Jack, 8,683
  3. John, 7,750
  4. Jackson, 7,284
  5. Joseph, 7,237
  6. Julian, 7,078
  7. Jacob, 6,976
  8. Jayden, 5,627
  9. Josiah, 5,404
  10. Joshua, 5,035

Top boy names starting with K:

  1. Kai, 4,946 baby boys
  2. Kayden, 3,120
  3. Kingston, 2,511
  4. Kaiden, 2,126
  5. Kevin, 1,914
  6. Knox, 1,770
  7. Karter, 1,590
  8. Kairo, 1,484
  9. Kyrie, 1,474
  10. Kash, 1,316

Top boy names starting with L:

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 10,842
  3. Levi, 9,347
  4. Leo, 8,120
  5. Luca, 7,770
  6. Luke, 7,217
  7. Logan, 6,686
  8. Lincoln, 4,842
  9. Leonardo, 4,012
  10. Luka, 3,650

Top boy names starting with M:

  1. Mateo, 11,229 baby boys
  2. Michael, 8,383
  3. Mason, 7,237
  4. Matthew, 7,190
  5. Maverick, 6,962
  6. Miles, 6,558
  7. Micah, 3,875
  8. Myles, 3,399
  9. Milo, 2,950
  10. Matteo, 2,503

Top boy names starting with N:

  1. Noah, 18,995 baby boys
  2. Nolan, 5,112
  3. Nathan, 5,049
  4. Nicholas, 3,242
  5. Nathaniel, 2,507
  6. Nicolas, 1,886
  7. Nico, 1,462
  8. Nash, 1,328
  9. Niko, 1,033
  10. Nasir, 739

Top boy names starting with O:

  1. Oliver, 14,741 baby boys
  2. Owen, 7,985
  3. Oscar, 1,693
  4. Omar, 1,306
  5. Otto, 1,191
  6. Onyx, 1,069
  7. Odin, 897
  8. Orion, 861
  9. Oakley, 799
  10. Ozzy, 526

Top boy names starting with P:

  1. Parker, 3,792 baby boys
  2. Peter, 1,738
  3. Patrick, 1,596
  4. Paul, 1,351 (tie)
  5. Paxton, 1,351 (tie)
  6. Phoenix, 1,243
  7. Preston, 1,228
  8. Prince, 885
  9. Pablo, 850
  10. Pedro, 753

Top boy names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn, 685 baby boys
  2. Quincy, 401
  3. Quentin, 334
  4. Quinton, 301
  5. Quintin, 120
  6. Quinten, 88
  7. Quest, 84
  8. Quadir, 70
  9. Quade, 53
  10. Qasim, 51

Top boy names starting with R:

  1. Roman, 4,777 baby boys
  2. Rowan, 4,195
  3. Ryan, 4,020
  4. Robert, 3,807
  5. River, 3,084
  6. Ryder, 2,822
  7. Rhett, 2,183
  8. Ryker, 1,976
  9. Richard, 1,638
  10. Riley, 1,627

Top boy names starting with S:

  1. Sebastian, 8,865 baby boys
  2. Samuel, 7,973
  3. Santiago, 6,328
  4. Silas, 4,070
  5. Sawyer, 2,833
  6. Stetson, 1,987
  7. Simon, 1,398
  8. Steven, 1,387
  9. Saint, 1,059
  10. Sonny, 924

Top boy names starting with T:

  1. Theodore, 11,041 baby boys
  2. Thomas, 6,598
  3. Thiago, 4,505
  4. Theo, 4,122
  5. Tyler, 2,064
  6. Tate, 1,845
  7. Tucker, 1,802
  8. Timothy, 1,733
  9. Tatum, 1,492
  10. Tristan, 1,373

Top boy names starting with U:

  1. Uriel, 606 baby boys
  2. Uriah, 378
  3. Ulises, 221
  4. Ulysses, 169
  5. Umar, 152
  6. Uziel, 111
  7. Usman, 86
  8. Unknown, 67
  9. Uzziah, 65
  10. Uri, 60

Top boy names starting with V:

  1. Vincent, 2,982 baby boys
  2. Victor, 1,687
  3. Valentino, 575
  4. Vicente, 441
  5. Valentin, 372
  6. Vincenzo, 352
  7. Vihaan, 280
  8. Van, 252
  9. Vance, 236
  10. Veer, 224

Top boy names starting with W:

  1. William, 10,598 baby boys
  2. Wyatt, 6,237
  3. Waylon, 4,881
  4. Wesley, 4,539
  5. Weston, 4,356
  6. Walker, 4,006
  7. Walter, 1,272
  8. Warren, 1,080
  9. Wade, 971
  10. Winston, 797

Top boy names starting with X:

  1. Xavier, 3,413 baby boys
  2. Xander, 1,700
  3. Xzavier, 153
  4. Xavi, 118
  5. Xavion, 111
  6. Xaiden, 101
  7. Xavien, 94
  8. Xavian, 91
  9. Xion, 85
  10. Xayden, 65

Top boy names starting with Y:

  1. Yusuf, 610 baby boys
  2. Yosef, 444
  3. Yael, 328
  4. Yehuda, 318
  5. Yousef, 297
  6. Yahir, 290
  7. Yahya, 263
  8. Yadiel, 242
  9. Yaakov, 231
  10. Yisroel, 228

Top boy names starting with Z:

  1. Zion, 2,867 baby boys
  2. Zachary, 2,112
  3. Zayden, 1,898
  4. Zayn, 1,413
  5. Zane, 1,220
  6. Zyaire, 1,029
  7. Zander, 924
  8. Zayne, 717
  9. Zaire, 654
  10. Zaiden, 567

Source: SSA