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 Northern Ireland (UK), 2012

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The most popular baby names in Northern Ireland were announced a little while ago.

According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the #1 names were Jack for boys and Sophie for girls.

Here are Northern Ireland’s provisional top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Sophie
2. Emily
3. Grace
4. Amelia
5. Jessica
6. Lucy
7. Sophia
8. Katie
9. Eva
10. Aoife
11. Chloe
12. Lily
13. Ella
14. Mia
15. Ellie
16. Anna [tie]
16. Emma [tie]
16. Olivia [tie]
19. Erin
20. Sarah		1. Jack
2. James
3. Daniel
4. Harry
5. Charlie
6. Ethan
7. Matthew
8. Ryan
9. Riley
10. Noah
11. Adam
12. Joshua
13. Jacob
14. Thomas
15. Conor
16. Jake [tie]
16. Oliver [tie]
18. Dylan
19. Alfie
20. Mason

The highest climbers within the top 20 lists were Aoife (15th to 10th) and Riley (18th to 9th).

Other high climbers were Bobby (124th to 59th), Blake (111th to 71st) and Olly (131st to 93rd) for boy names, and Miley (135th to 79th) and Layla (135th to 83rd) for girl names.

[Very curious about Bobby! Can anybody explain that one?]

Names that decreased in popularity include Calum (down 93 spots), Padraig (-49) and Conan (-28) on the boys’ list, and Ciara (-53), Victoria (-49) and Julia (-48) on the girls’ list.

Finally, here are some of the more unusual names registered in 2012:

Girl NamesBoy Names
Aibhailia, Anna-bell, Blathnait, Cait-erin, Caollaidhe, Clodagh-rose, Clover-leoni, Connemara, Haianabragadiska, Iretenevesho, Napsugar, Poppyanna, Scarlett-imogen, Shammahwisdom, TuleighzaBoen-rua, Caelum, Conghaile, Connlaodh, Everley-eric, Gavin-og, Iarfhlaith, Iggi, Kekeli, Kyzler, McCoist, Naoise, Rolex, Sean-og, Setanta, Shea-pearse, Somhairle, Steven-og, Uate, Ugnius

Those “og” endings on some of the boy names are the Irish word Óg, which means “young” or “junior.” It can be used after girl names, too.

Here are Northern Ireland’s top baby names of 2007, if you’d like to compare.

Source: NISRA

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Popular baby names in Ontario (Canada), 2012

Flag of Ontario
Flag of Ontario

The most popular baby names in Ontario, Canada, were announced yesterday.

According to the Ontario Registrar General, the winners were Liam for boys and Olivia for girls.

Here are Ontario’s top 25 girl names and top 25 boy names of 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Sophia
4. Ava
5. Isabella
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Charlotte
9. Chloe
10. Lily
11. Ella
12. Sophie
13. Madison
14. Grace
15. Victoria
16. Sarah
17. Maya
18. Mia
19. Leah
20. Sofia
21. Hannah
22. Amelia
23. Brooklyn
24. Alexis
25. Julia		1. Liam
2. Ethan
3. Jacob
4. Lucas
5. Noah
6. Nathan
7. Benjamin
8. William
9. Alexander
10. Logan
11. Mason
12. Owen
13. Joshua
14. Matthew
15. Daniel
16. Ryan
17. James
18. Jack
19. Michael
20. Evan
21. Gabriel
22. Jackson
23. Carter
24. Samuel
25. Nicholas

Ontarians are apparently not “keeping up with the Kardashians,” as Mason hasn’t shot up to #2 in Ontario like it did in the U.S. last year.

Source: Liam and Olivia Most Popular Baby Names in Ontario

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ontario (public domain)

Popular baby names in New York City, 2011

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year, New York City welcomed 123,029 babies — 60,221 girls and 62,808 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Isabella and Jayden (for the third year in a row!) according to the New York City Department of Health.

Here are NYC’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2011:

Girl names

  1. Isabella, given to more than 600 baby girls
  2. Sophia
  3. Olivia
  4. Emma
  5. Mia
  6. Emily
  7. Madison
  8. Leah
  9. Chloe
  10. Sofia

Boy names

  1. Jayden, given to more than 800 baby boys
  2. Jacob
  3. Ethan
  4. Daniel
  5. Michael
  6. Matthew
  7. Justin
  8. David
  9. Aiden
  10. Alexander

The news release also mentioned that the boy names Ayden, Jaden, Aidan, and Jaiden ranked 39th, 49th, 59th, and 92nd, respectively.

The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

Top girl namesTop boy names
Hispanic1. Isabella, 331
2. Mia, 229
3. Sophia, 223
4. Ashley, 190
5. Camila, 188		1. Jayden, 426
2. Justin, 310
3. Jacob, 303
4. Matthew, 276
5. Angel, 253
Asian and Pacific Islander1. Sophia, 119
2. Chloe, 106
3. Emily, 93
4. Olivia, 89
5. Emma, 75		1. Ethan, 177
2. Jayden, 173
3. Ryan, 150
4. Justin, 110
5. Lucas, 103
White, non-Hispanic1. Esther, 224
2. Emma, 213 (tie)
3. Olivia, 213 (tie)
4. Leah, 183
5. Sophia, 180		1. Michael, 292
2. Joseph, 281
3. Jacob, 265
4. David, 258
5. Benjamin, 230
Black, non-Hispanic1. Madison, 176
2. London, 92
3. Kayla, 78
4. Chloe, 72
5. Aaliyah, 69		1. Jayden, 184
2. Aiden, 167
3. Elijah, 156
4. Jeremiah, 153
5. Joshua, 128

Intriguingly, both Nyla and Nylah ranked inside the top 20 for non-Hispanic Black baby girls.

The last set of NYC rankings I posted were from 2007.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

[Latest update: Jan. 2026]

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2011

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

Jack and Emily were the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2011.

Here are the full top-20 lists for each gender:

Girl Names

  1. Emily (1.6% of all baby girls)
  2. Sophie
  3. Emma
  4. Grace
  5. Lily
  6. Sarah
  7. Lucy
  8. Ava
  9. Chloe
  10. Katie
  11. Ella
  12. Mia
  13. Aoife [EE-fa]
  14. Caoimhe [KEE-va or KWEE-va]
  15. Kate
  16. Leah
  17. Hannah
  18. Anna
  19. Saoirse [SEER-sha or SAIR-sha]
  20. Ruby

Boy Names

  1. Jack (2.4% of all baby boys)
  2. James
  3. Sean [shawn]
  4. Daniel
  5. Connor
  6. Ryan
  7. Adam
  8. Harry
  9. Michael
  10. Alex (tie)
  11. Dylan (tie)
  12. Luke
  13. Cian [KEE-an or KEEN]
  14. Jamie
  15. Oisin [UH-sheen or O-sheen]
  16. Aaron
  17. Liam
  18. Thomas
  19. Darragh
  20. Charlie

(And here are the 2010 rankings, if you’d like to compare.)

The names that increased the most in popularity from 2010 to 2011 were…

 Boy NamesGirl Names
By rank:Tommy – 160th to 88th
Mason – 128th to 70th
Hugh – 126th to 99th
Donnacha – 102nd to 76th
Leo – 94th to 79th		Michaela – 164th to 78th
Muireann – 120th to 87th
Sofia – 80th to 58th
Kayla – 41st to 21st
Eve (tie) – 60th to 45th
Maebh (tie) – 107th to 92nd
By number of babies:Harry – 364 to 499
Adam – 581 to 637
Mason – 59 to 115
Thomas – 347 to 403
Rian – 161 to 213		Lily – 371 to 496
Kayla – 186 to 306
Caoimhe – 323 to 398
Mia – 344 to 400
Ella – 380 to 434

Tommy’s rise can be attributed to Tommy Moon, a fictional baby who was “born” (read: introduced) on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders at the very end of 2010.

And we already know why Mason is so popular…

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names 2011 [pdf], Jack and Emily top baby names list

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)