Ryne
A diminutive form of the name Ryan, of Irish origin meaning 'little king'.
Name Census estimates that about 4,260 living Americans carry the first name Ryne. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Ryne today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ryne births was 1985 (286 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ryne. 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.
People living today
4.3K
~ 1 in 80,459 Americans
Peak year
1985
286 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,830
Tracked since 1958
Census
Ryne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,974 people with the first name Ryne, which placed it at #4,620 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
#4,620
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,974 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ryne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryne is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Ryne 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 Ryne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.5% · 3,320
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 240
- Two or more races4.0% · 157
- Black or African American2.8% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 112
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 33
Gender
Gender distribution for Ryne
Out of the 4,386 babies given the name Ryne since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Ryne as a male name
- Ranked #5,830 in 2024
- 16 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1985 (286 births)
Ryne as a female name
- Ranked #15,090 in 2008
- 7 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1984 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ryne leans strongly male. 3,876 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 99 female bearers (2.5%).
Popularity
Ryne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ryne from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,584 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ryne 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 Ryne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rynes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Illinois, Indiana, Texas recorded the most babies named Ryne, while Oregon, New Jersey, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 79 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ryne
The name Ryne is an English variant of the name Ryne, which originated from the Old English word "ryne" or "ryne", meaning "a brook" or "a small stream". This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Ryne appeared in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the Great Survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It was primarily used as a surname, referring to people who lived near a small stream or brook.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ryne was Sir Ryne de Brockesby, a knight who lived in Lincolnshire, England, in the 13th century. He is mentioned in several historical records from that time period.
During the Middle Ages, the name Ryne gained popularity as a given name, particularly among the English nobility and gentry. One notable figure was Ryne de Beauchamp, a member of the prominent Beauchamp family who lived in the 14th century.
In the 16th century, the name was associated with the Protestant Reformation. Ryne Wycliffe, a theologian and follower of John Wycliffe, was a prominent figure in the Lollard movement, which sought to reform the Catholic Church in England (born around 1490).
Another notable bearer of the name was Ryne Burgoyne, an English military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for his surrender at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, which was a turning point in the war.
In the 19th century, the name Ryne was found among literary figures. Ryne Browning, an English poet and playwright, was a renowned figure in the Victorian era, known for his dramatic monologues and works such as "The Ring and the Book" (born in 1812, died in 1889).
While the name Ryne has become less common in recent times, it remains a part of the English naming tradition, with its origins rooted in the Old English language and its association with the natural landscape of brooks and streams.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ryne
People
Ryne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ryne 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
Ryne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ryne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,260 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ryne 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 80,459 US residents.
Is Ryne a common name?
We classify Ryne as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,386 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ryne most popular?
The single biggest year for Ryne was 1985, when 286 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ryne is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ryne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,974 people with the name Ryne, or 1.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,620 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 Ryne 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 Ryne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ryne leans strongly male. 3,876 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 99 female bearers (2.5%). 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 Ryne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ryne is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Ryne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ryne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (3,320 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 Ryne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ryne a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Ryne 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 Ryne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ryne 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 Ryne 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 Ryne as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.