Given name & surname
Riordan
“a royal poet; a bard or minstrel”
Riordan is used as a given name and a surname. One interpretation is “a royal poet; a bard or minstrel.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “a royal poet; a bard or minstrel.”
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1986. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Riordan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 297
- 297 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2013
- 18 babies
- 2025
- 12
- #7,103 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +17%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 12 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 7,103 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 18 in 2013. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 306 as a first name in 2020; 7,544 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Riordan’s family of names
Riordan has a related form in Reardan. Riordan has a related form in Rearden. Riordan has a related form in Rearden.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Riordan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Teague
“a wise poet”
>99% boys
Ludovic
“devotee of the Lord”
>99% boys
Rogan
“a red-haired man”
93% boys · 7% girls
Lorcan
“the small, fierce one”
>99% boys
Tiernan
“lord of the manor”
95% boys · 5% girls
Brogan
“one who is sturdy; reliable”
84% boys · 16% girls
Rogen
“a red-haired man”
>99% boys
Senan
“the people's hero”
>99% boys