Two spellings, two published records

In Ireland’s 2025 boys’ records, Rían appears with 490 occurrences and rank one. Rian appears separately with 43 occurrences and rank 125. Removing the accent before displaying or matching these records would erase a distinction present in the source.

Keep the spelling you are researching visible throughout a comparison. A search suggestion should not silently replace one spelling with another. The official result for one spelling does not become the published rank of both spellings combined.

There is a break in the historical method

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office began distinguishing the síneadh fada and other diacritics in its baby-name statistics in 2018. That change matters when reading a long history. An absent earlier record for an accented spelling cannot establish that families had never used it.

For a direct comparison between these two published spellings, start with years from 2018 onward. If you also examine older records, keep a note beside the chart explaining the change. A smooth line across the boundary could suggest continuity that the recording method does not support.

Preserve the family choice beyond the chart

When saving a candidate, write the exact intended form in your private notes and complete-name preview. Ask relatives which spelling they mean when discussing a family connection. This is especially useful when different keyboards or search boxes make an accent easy to omit.

The numbers answer a question about recorded usage. They do not establish pronunciation, historical derivation, or personal significance. Research those questions separately using a source that addresses the particular spelling and language. Your choice deserves more care than a search system treating an accent as disposable decoration.