Ryan

Ryan has been American common property for so long that its Irish origins often fade from view. It descends from the Gaelic Ó Riain, descendant of Rían, with the root possibly meaning little king, and rose from a modest surname to a top-ten American boys' name through the 1970s and 80s. It has since softened to around the top 87 and quietly become genuinely unisex, used for girls since Ryan O'Neal's daughter Tatum made it familiar and later for a generation of Ryans in women's lacrosse and finance. The single syllable is brisk and balanced, neither soft nor hard, the verbal equivalent of a white sneaker.