The spectacle of hundreds of people gathering in New York and elsewhere simply because they share the name Ryan is exactly the sort of cultural fluff the mainstream press seems desperate to inflate into “news.” Recent coverage shows Rytoberfest and similar Ryan Meetup events drew hundreds of attendees and included efforts to break the Guinness record for most people with the same first name—an amusing novelty, but hardly national news.
Organizers say the gatherings are lighthearted and sometimes charitable; one New York event reportedly doubled as a fundraiser for the Ryan Callahan Foundation, which supports families of pediatric cancer patients, and that’s something decent people can applaud. Yet the broader media obsession with cosplay-style identity tribes and feel-good stunts speaks to a deeper rot: outlets preferring spectacle over substance. If papers and networks spent as much energy covering policy, crime, or the real struggles of working families, the country would be better informed.
This Ryan craze didn’t spring up overnight—what started as small meetups in cities like Denver and Los Angeles has ballooned into coordinated attempts to set records at sporting events and conventions, with Ryans turning up in droves at Coors Field and other venues. It’s one thing to find community and another to corporatize a name into a brand people chase for likes and headlines, and conservatives should call out the hollow triumphalism when it replaces civic duty.
There’s an undeniable human impulse to bond over shared experience, even something as trivial as a first name, and Americans shouldn’t sneer at people finding companionship in odd places. But we should also remind ourselves that real community is built on clubs that serve neighbors, bolster civic institutions, and answer real needs—not endless niche festivals that feed a media hunger for the quirky. Conservatives respect voluntary association; we just want those associations to strengthen families, faith, and local charity rather than fill cable TV airtime.
Meanwhile, the drive to break world records for “most people with the same name”—a record once held by more than two thousand Ivans in Bosnia—highlights how media and organizers chase headline metrics instead of measurable public good. If you want to set records, set records for volunteer hours, blood drives, or building shelters for the needy; those are achievements that patriotically reflect American values. The Ryans who used their meetup to raise money for sick children showed how the idea could be redirected into something meaningful, and that’s the route conservatives should encourage.
At the end of the day, let the Ryans have their party and their silly chants if it brings people together, but let the press and pundits stop applauding every trivial viral moment as if it were a movement. We are a nation of grave challenges—economic insecurity, the erosion of public safety, and the decline of civic institutions—and the media’s fixation on name-based revelry only distracts from fixing those problems. Hardworking Americans deserve coverage that informs, not endless coverage that entertains the elite newsroom crowd while families pick up the tab.
