Brian

Nobody is quite sure what Brian means. One theory links it to an old Celtic word for “high” or “noble”, but that is only a guess. The name was common among the Breton nobility, and it most likely came to Ireland from there, from the Old Breton Brient. A similar Irish name, Brión, is older, though it is not clear whether the two are connected.

The man who made the name Irish was Brian Boru, the Munster king who became High King and died at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Historians note that the name seems to have been almost unknown in Ireland before him. His descendants took the surname Ó Briain, or O’Brien. Later, Bretons who came with the Normans brought their own Brians to England and Ireland.

Brian was one of the most common boys’ names in Ireland through the 1960s, 70s and 80s. It reached number 7 in 1977, and 944 boys were given it in 1980, its busiest year. It has fallen a long way since, to 18 boys in 2025. In Northern Ireland it was number 237 that year.