Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Brian

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Remove ads
See also: brian

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Brian. Doublet of Brendan.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Brian

  1. A male given name from Irish.
    • 1865, Charlotte Eliza L. Riddell, Maxwell Drewitt, London: Tinsley Brothers, pages 255–256:
      "What the deuce is their fancy for calling the young beggar Brian?" he inquired."Is it Brian Boroimhe they have gone back to, or is it some of her people, or what?"
      "There was a good Drewitt once," answered Wilhelmina, "- - - and his name was Brian. - - - And Nannie told her, too, how a child always strains after the person it is called after, and how luck follows names, and worked her up to such a pit finally, that nothing would do her but the young gentleman must be called Brian and accordingly Brian he is - Brian Archibald. It is not an easy name to make fun out of; so all I can do is to call him Brin Baldy.
    • 2008, Phill Young, FarArc, Author House, →ISBN, page 145:
      Why oh why had his parents even considered Brian? Brian is someone who works in a hardware shop or fixes the U bend. What chance did Sir Lovesdaslutalot have in life with a name like Brian? You can't even shorten Brian to Bri without it sounding like a kind of cheese!
    • 2025 March 26, Jordan Valinsky, “Chili’s is opening a retro restaurant in Scranton that celebrates ‘The Office’”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 16 April 2025:
      Chili’s has also enlisted several actors from “The Office” to star in the ads, including Melora Hardin (Jan Levinson), Andy Buckley (David Wallace), Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone) and Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer).
  2. A surname.

Usage notes

  • After the Middle Ages, mostly used in Ireland; and again popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century.

Descendants

  • Cebuano: Brian
  • Danish: Brian
  • Faroese: Brian
  • French: Brian

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Remove ads

Cebuano

Etymology 1

Unknown.

Proper noun

Brian

  1. a surname

Etymology 2

From English Brian, from Irish Brian.

Proper noun

Brian

  1. a male given name from Irish

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Brian in the 20th century, ultimately from Irish.

Proper noun

Brian

  1. a male given name

References

  • Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 22 165 males with the given name Brian have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Faroese

Etymology

From English Brian (possibly via Danish Brian), ultimately from Irish Brian.

Proper noun

Brian m

  1. a male given name

Usage notes

Patronymics

  • son of Brian: Briansson
  • daughter of Brian: Briansdóttir

Declension

More information singular, indefinite ...

French

Etymology

Via English Brian from Irish Brian, ultimately from Breton Brien.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Brian m

  1. a male given name

Irish

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads