RYAN BROWN

From the Irish surname, Gaelic Ó Riain ‘descendant of Rian’. Ryan is associated with the film actor Ryan O'Neal (b. 1941) and is one of several names of Celtic origin that have become very popular throughout the English-speaking world since the 1990s. It is also now well established in North America as a girl's name.

English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brūn or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brūn as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brūngar, Brūnwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.