Ryan (given name) in 2005–2007. "Ryan" as a male given name has persisted in popularity for the thirty-year period of 1976–2006 in the 10th to 20th rank; the name appeared in the top thousand for the first time in 1946 and gained steadily in popularity until leveling off in the 1970s. Its ascendency in the U.S. has been traced, in part, to its use by American actor Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal who used the stage name Ryan O'Neal in the popular series "Peyton Place" from 1964 to 1969. "Ryan" gained popularity as a given name for girls in the 1970s. It first appeared
Phil Neal late in the 1977 European Cup Final, when the Anfield club beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in Rome to win the European Cup for the first time. Neal subsequently played in the winning 1978 and 1981 finals, Liverpool beating FC Bruges and Real Madrid respectively. He scored in the first half of the 1984 final against A.S. Roma, which ended 1-1 and was decided on penalty kicks, won by Liverpool (with Neal scoring Liverpool's first goal of the shootout, from its second shot). Neal was the only player to appear in all four of Liverpool's European Cup wins of the 1970s