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The Name Ryan, chiefly recorded in the Munster counties of Tipperary and Limerick, is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic «O’Maoilriain», descendant of Maolriain, a male given name, the first element of which has two possible interpretations. Firstly, «maol» may derive from the pagan Irish «mal», chief, related to the Welsh «mail», hero, and secondly, it may stem from «maol», literally meaning «bald, tonsured, but probably used here in the transferred sense of   devotee » . The second element   rian» is so ancient that its meaning is obscure, however, it is believed to come from  «rian» , an Old irish word for  «water» , thus connecting the name with the cult of a water deity  hence,  «heroes of Rian» , or, «worshippers of Rian» . The  «O’Maoilriain»  sept was located in Owney, formerly called Owney O’Mulryan, which forms two modern baronies on the borders of Counties Limerick and Tipperary. Mulryan and Ryan are now usually written as  «O’Riain» in Gaelic, however, this is more accurately the name of a Leinster sept who descend from Lathaoir Mor, 2nd Century King of Leinster ; the chief of this sept was lord of Ui Drone in County Carlow.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of O’Maoilriain, which was dated circa 14th Century, in  «Medieval Records of County Tipperary», during the reign of Gerald, Earl of Desmond, 1369 – 1374. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to «develop» often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Others have suggested that it is related to the Old Irish word rí, meaning «king». Popular sources typically suggest that Ryan means «little king» or « illustrious». Both of these etymologies have been discounted by scholars, however.