| Ryu | Sora | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | dragon | Sky |
| Origin | japanese | Japanese |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | ryoo | SOH-rah |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1985 | 2004 |
| Peak year | 2012 (130) | 2022 (77) |
| In 2025 | 59 | 63 |
| Trend | Steady | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Ryu | Sora |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 483 | 342 |
| 2010s | 741 | 258 |
| 2000s | 372 | 63 |
| 1990s | 77 | 0 |
| 1980s | 12 | 0 |
From Japanese 龍 / 竜 (ryuu) 'dragon'. Hedge: more often a dragon-bearing element within compound names than a standalone given name, and the same sound is written with other kanji meaning 'noble/prosperous' (隆), 'flow' (流) or 'lapis lazuli' (琉); the dragon meaning applies to the 龍/竜 spelling. Romanized Ryu or Ryuu (the macron/double-u marks a long vowel).
Sora means “sky” in Japanese.
Sora is more popular than Ryu today: about 63 US babies were given the name Sora in 2025, compared with 59 named Ryu.
Ryu means dragon (japanese origin), while Sora means Sky (Japanese origin).
In US records, Ryu first appears in 1985 and Sora in 2004, so Ryu has the longer recorded history.