| Sources | Pronunciation guide |
(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: rʸuu:-yah [ɾʲɨ́ᵝɨ̀ᵝ.jà]
Variant transliterations: Ryuya, Ryuuya
Etymology and/or ways to write:
The most popular form of this name is 竜也 with the first kanji (can also be used as 龍) meaning “dragon” and the second kanji being used as a phonetic kanji but can refer to archaic auxiliary verb なり (nari) meaning “to be.”
Here are other kanji combinations used for this name:
| ryū (りゅう) | ya (や) |
| 隆 “prosperous” | 矢 “arrow” |
| 琉 part of 琉璃 (ruri) “lapis lazuli” | 哉 phonetic kanji |
| 颯 “quick, sudden” | 弥/彌 “increase” |
| 流 “current, flow” | |
| 留 “stop” | |
| 硫 “sulphur” | |
| 立 “stand, rise” | |
| 柳 “willow” |
Popularity:
The majority of men who are named Ryūya were born in the late Shōwa period (1926-1989) onward. It was uncommon in 1990, when it was given to around 0.09% of boys, though it rose gradually to around 0.18% in 1996.
Even though it dropped slightly in percentage in 1997 and 1998, the name peaked in popularity in 2000 (around 0.29-30%), coinciding with the fact that 2000 was the Year of the Dragon – 竜/龍 is the most popular first kanji for this name. After that, it suffered a bigger drop in popularity and by 2007, only around 0.07% of boys were given this name.
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Beyond Sakura and Hiroshi 