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Ryan

Celtic in origin, meaning "little king". In Poland it stays rare, holding a spot just inside the thousand most-given names, and it goes only to boys.

Ryan Pronunciation

Ryan is pronounced RIH-ahn (/ˈrɨan/).

Alive in 2025
1,028
Newborns 2025
8
National rank
#949

What Ryan means

Where Ryan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.

Ryan comes from Ireland, and its roots are Celtic. The name grew out of the old surname Ó Riain, meaning a descendant of Rían, and that older name is usually traced to the Irish word rí, king. Add a small diminutive ending and you reach the sense that has followed the name for centuries. Little king. In Polish, mały król.

For most of its history Ryan was a surname carried by Irish families. Only in the twentieth century did English speakers start giving it as a first name, and from there it travelled. Poland took it in too.

Picture a class register in a Gdańsk primary school, where a boy named Ryan answers to a Celtic word for king without anyone in the room reaching for a crown. The name arrived with no variants and no Polish diminutives, so it stays as it came: four letters, one meaning, mały król.

How many people are named Ryan

1 in 20907 men in Poland is named Ryan. 1,028 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #949 among male names.

People with the name Ryan 2019 → 2025
1,028 +417 since 2019
2020 638 +27
2021 685 +47
2022 761 +76
2023 823 +62
2024 926 +103
2025 1,028 +102

Ryan's popularity over time

8 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #778 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2002.

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8 newborns with the name Ryan in 2025
national rank #778 that year

Where parents choose Ryan

Ryan is most popular in Lublin, 216% above the national average (6 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+144%) and Podlaskie (+64%). It is least common in Silesian and Lesser Poland, 53% and 52% below average respectively.

Chosen most
  • Lublin
    +216%
    1 in 17,113 babies
  • Masovian
    +144%
    1 in 22,142 babies
  • Podlaskie
    +64%
    1 in 32,893 babies
Chosen least
  • Silesian
    −53%
    1 in 113,792 babies
  • Lesser Poland
    −52%
    1 in 113,458 babies
  • Pomeranian
    −27%
    1 in 73,661 babies

Ryan as a middle name

Ryan is a first name for 1,028 men in Poland and a middle name for another 284, a 78/22 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 417th, between Marco (285) and Joel (283).

As a first name
1,028
As a middle name
284
first name 78% middle name 22%
Middle-name ranking men

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Next in ranking → George #950