Bryan

What Bryan means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Bryan yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #166 in 2015, #336 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Bryan?

US: Falling: down from #166 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #456 in 2015, #497 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1977, when 7,886 boys got the name (#42 that year). First in the US records in 1883.

How common

• About 1 in 1,700 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,532 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,910 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 MA (2.48 per 1,000 boys), DE (1.7 per 1,000 boys), FL (1.35 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Bryan is #336 in the US and #497 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 Bryan were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Brayan334 US · 13 E&W
• Bryon17 US
• Brayen0 US · 11 E&W
• Breyon7 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 Bryan

Boys

• Sean#489“God is gracious”^*
• Juan#159Spanish, meaning “Yahweh is gracious”^*
• Kevin#221“dear birth/person”^*
• Ryan#99Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 29,905 babies; 3,532 in 2025
• Trevor#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1998, with 6,598 babies; 400 in 2025
• Shane#635“God is gracious”^*

For a sister

• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Kaitlyn#799Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #197 in 2015, #799 in 2025
• Morgan#312Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #121 in 2015, #312 in 2025
• Megan#887Diminutive of Margaret, meaning “pearl”^*
• Jennifer#586Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1972, with 63,600 babies; 501 in 2025
• Briana#661Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1994, with 5,000 babies; 431 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 Bryan’s. Rank is US 2025.