Ryder
A masculine English name derived from an occupational surname meaning "mounted traveler" or "cavalryman".
Name Census estimates that about 65,663 living Americans carry the first name Ryder. It sits at #134 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (96.5% of registrations). The average person named Ryder today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ryder births was 2015 (4,296 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ryder. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ryder with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ryder is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 2,335 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Ryder is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
66K
~ 1 in 5,220 Americans
Peak year
2015
4,296 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#134
Tracked since 1960
Census
Ryder in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 44,972 people with the first name Ryder, which placed it at #968 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#968
National first-name rank
People counted
45K
44,972 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
14.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ryder
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryder is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ryder described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ryder at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.3% · 36,106
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 3,787
- Two or more races6.3% · 2,831
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 879
- Black or African American1.8% · 828
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 541
Gender
Gender distribution for Ryder
Ryder leans heavily male at 96.5% of total registrations, but 2,335 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ryder as a male name
- Ranked #134 in 2024
- 2,694 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (4,163 births)
Ryder as a female name
- Ranked #1,332 in 2024
- 172 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (257 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ryder leans strongly male. 43,767 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 1,199 female bearers (2.7%).
Popularity
Ryder: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ryder from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 37,196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ryder remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ryder by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ryder during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ryders live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Ryder, while District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,252 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ryder
The given name Ryder has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "ridere," which means "mounted warrior" or "rider." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with horsemen, knights, or those involved in cavalry or equestrian pursuits.
During the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain, the name Ryder was likely used to refer to individuals who excelled in horsemanship or who held positions related to horses or mounted combat. It was a name that carried connotations of strength, bravery, and skill in the saddle.
While no specific historical references or ancient texts mentioning the name Ryder have been widely documented, it is believed to have been in use among the English-speaking population during the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th and 14th centuries in England.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Ryder was Sir John Ryder, an English knight who lived in the late 14th century. He served under King Edward III and participated in the Hundred Years' War against France.
Another notable historical figure was Sir Thomas Ryder, a 16th-century English lawyer and judge. He served as the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1591 to 1598 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, Dudley Ryder, an English lawyer and politician, held the position of Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1754 to 1756. He was also a Member of Parliament and served as the Attorney General for England and Wales.
In the 19th century, Henry Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, was a prominent British statesman and peer. He served as the Lord President of the Council and held various other political positions from 1809 to 1827.
Another notable figure was Sir Alfred Phillipps Ryder, a British civil engineer and naval architect who lived from 1820 to 1888. He designed several notable ships, including the HMS Ranger and HMS Immortalité.
While the name Ryder has its roots in Old English and was historically associated with horsemen and warriors, it has evolved over time and is now used as a given name across various cultures and regions. However, its origins and historical significance remain tied to its equestrian and martial connotations in medieval England.
People
Ryder + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ryder as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ryder: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ryder?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65,663 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ryder going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,220 US residents.
Is Ryder a common name?
We classify Ryder as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66,224 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ryder most popular?
The single biggest year for Ryder was 2015, when 4,296 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ryder is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ryder in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 44,972 people with the name Ryder, or 14.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #968 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ryder in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ryder?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ryder leans strongly male. 43,767 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 1,199 female bearers (2.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ryder?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryder is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ryder most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ryder in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (36,106 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ryder in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ryder a male name?
Yes, 96.5% of people registered as Ryder in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ryder still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ryder in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ryder can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Ryder?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.