There is no doubt that his first name was pronounced as "Ryoma" considering that the kanji of his first name is pronounced "Ryoma" according to "Kan-on" (the Han reading of a kanji) although pronounced "Ryuma" according to "Kan-yo on" (the special Japanese reading) (see "Kojien" the fifth edition), that his contemporaries wrote down in their diaries and letters the kanji of the phonetic equivalent of "Ryoma" to refer to Ryoma, and that Ryoma himself sometimes added his signature reading "Riyofu" to his letters.
「龍馬」は慣用音（『広辞苑』第5版）では「りゅうま」だが、漢音は「りょうま」で、同時代人の日記や書簡に「良馬」の当て字で記されていることもあり、また龍馬自身も書簡の中で「りよふ」と自署していることもあるため、「りょうま」と読まれていたことは間違いない。