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Brian

Male given name

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
11 min read
Source updated August 22, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Brian is a masculine given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.

01History

It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meaning "high" or "noble". For example, the element bre means "hill"; which could be transferred to mean "eminence" or "exalted one". The name is quite popular in Ireland, on account of Brian Boru, a 10th-century High King of Ireland. The name was also quite popular in East Anglia during the Middle Ages. This is because the name was introduced to England by Bretons following the Norman Conquest. Bretons also settled in Ireland along with the Normans in the 12th century, and 'their' name was mingled with the 'Irish' version. Also, in North West England, the 'Irish' name was introduced by Scandinavian settlers from Ireland. Within the Scottish Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland, the name was at first only used by professional families of Irish origin.

It was the fourth most popular male name in England and Wales in 1934, but a sharp decline followed over the remainder of the 20th century and by 1994 it had fallen out of the top 100. It retained its popularity in the United States for longer; its most popular period there was from 1968 to 1979 when it consistently ranked between eighth and tenth. The name has become increasingly popular in South America, particularly Argentina and Uruguay, since the early 1990s.

02As a surname

The surname Brian is sometimes an English and Irish variant spelling of the surname Bryan. The English and French surname Brian is sometimes derived from the Celtic personal name shown above. The surname Brian can also sometimes be a French surname; derived from the Old Occitan word brian, meaning "maggot" and used as a nickname.

03Variants

Variants of the name include Briant, Brien, Bran, Brion, Bryan, Bryant, Brjánn (in Icelandic) and Bryon. Variant spellings such as "Brien" are sometimes used as female given names, especially among members of the Irish diaspora.

04Association with social climbers in Latin America

In Latin America, the phonetic spelling “Brayan” is often used, associated with working-class parents with social climbing aspirations due to perceived prestige associated of Anglo-American culture. The name is mocked for that reason on social media.

05Notable people with the name

Mononyms

Given name: common combinations

Given name: individuals

Surname

Fictional characters

06Media titles

Films and television shows which contain the name Brian include:

Watch videos about BrianExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Brian”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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Related topics

List of Irish-language given names

This list of Irish-language given names shows Irish language given names, their anglicisations and/or English language equivalents. Not all Irish given names have English equivalents, though most names have an anglicised form.

O'Brian

O'Brian is an Irish surname and may refer to:

List of people with surname O'Brien

O'Brien is a surname of Irish origin. It has many variants in the Irish diaspora worldwide, such as Brien, O'Bryan, O'Brian, Brian, O'Brine and O'Bryen, which all claim a general common ancestry.