Brian is a boy's name of Irish and Celtic origin meaning “high.” In 2024 it was given to 1,111 boys in the United States.
Brian belongs to the Irish & Celtic tradition. Its meaning — “high” — is the sense carried by its Irish and Celtic roots, and it is the meaning we verified against published sources for this page.
In the United States, Brian first appears in Social Security records in 1909. It climbed to its best-ever rank of #8 in 1970, and in 2024 1,111 babies received the name — 1,172,762 in total since 1880. Those are the official counts, not estimates.
More names from the Irish & Celtic shelf:
Brian means “high” in its Irish and Celtic roots. We check every meaning against published sources before it appears here.
Brian is a boy name. In 2024, 1,111 babies received the name in the US.
Brian comes from the Irish & Celtic tradition.
Brian first appears in US records in 1909. Its best-ever ranking was #8 in 1970, and 1,111 babies were given the name in 2024.
Brian is pronounced /ˈbɹaɪ.ən/ (IPA).
Meaning and origin for this page were checked against this source. US popularity figures are from the Social Security Administration's public baby-names data. If you spot an error, write to [email protected] — accuracy is the whole point of this site, and corrections are made fast.
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