Brian

What Brian means

Same root as Brendan, meaning “prince, king”

Doublet of Brendan || Anglicized form of the name of Irish saints, Irish Bréanainn (via Latin Brendanus), from Old Irish Brénainn, from Old Welsh breenhin (“prince, king”), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *brigantīnos (“(someone) preeminent, outstanding”), a diminu

Source: Wiktionary, “Brian” (revision 94535059) and “Brendan” (revision 94535039), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Brian?

US: Falling: down from #188 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #383 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1973, when 35,686 boys got the name (#8 that year). First in the US records in 1909.

How common

• About 1 in 1,745 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,999 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,403 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 DE (2.04 per 1,000 boys), DC (1.98 per 1,000 boys), ND (1.79 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Brian is #339 in the US and #573 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Brian 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

• Breon32 US
• Baran12 US · 19 E&W
• Brion9 US
• Brien7 US
• Bruen5 US
• Boran0 US · 3 E&W

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 Brian

Boys

• Shawn#681“God is gracious”^*
• Shane#635“God is gracious”^*
• Sean#489“God is gracious”^*
• Ryan#99Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 29,905 babies; 3,532 in 2025
• Kevin#221“dear birth/person”^*
• Kenneth#294“handsome”^*

For a sister

• Jennifer#586Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1972, with 63,600 babies; 501 in 2025
• Megan#887Diminutive of Margaret, meaning “pearl”^*
• Bridget#724Editor’s note Down from #534 in 2015 to #724 in 2025 in the US
• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Morgan#312Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #121 in 2015, #312 in 2025
• Kaitlyn#799Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #197 in 2015, #799 in 2025

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