Adrian

What Adrian means

Means “from the Roman harbor Hadria”

From Latin Hadrianus (“from the Roman harbor Hadria”) a place name ultimately from Etruscan 𐌇𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌀 (hatria).

Source: Wiktionary, “Adrian” (revision 93817571), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Adrian?

US: Falling: down from #58 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #244 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2008, when 7,938 boys got the name (#56 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 383 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,689 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,637 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NV (6.2 per 1,000 boys), NM (5.69 per 1,000 boys), DE (5.43 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Adrian is #74 in the US and #279 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.1% of US babies named Adrian were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Adrien180 US · 13 E&W
• Edrian25 US
• Aydrian13 US
• Adrion8 US
• Adriaan7 US
• Aydrien7 US
• Adrean7 US
• Adriann6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Adrian

Boys

• Gabriel#37Finnish, meaning “God is my strong man, God is my hero”^*
• Dominic#106Editor’s note Down from #68 in 2015 to #106 in 2025 in the US
• Max#180Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #48 vs #180 in 2025
• Maximilian#590German, meaning “the greatest”^*
• Angel#67Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #67 vs #1,307 in 2025
• Lukas#288“a man from Lucania”^*

For a sister

• Lilly#252Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Lillian#57possibly “lily”^*
• Juliana#256Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #256 vs #1,892 in 2025
• Annabelle#343Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #92 in 2015, #343 in 2025
• Mya#443Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #146 in 2015, #443 in 2025
• Lilian#560possibly “lily”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Adrian’s. Rank is US 2025.