Ryan
Ó Riain · descendant of Rian
Ryan is Ó Riain in Irish, said oh REE-in, and means descendant of Rian.
Rian is read as little king, from rí. A separate Ó Maoilriain family in the same counties also became Ryan in English, so the two are now impossible to tell apart.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Riain
- His daughter: Ní Riain
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Riain
- The family together: Uí Riain
Where it comes from
Tipperary and Limerick
Also spelt
Ryan, O’Ryan, Rian
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.