Bryan

Where Bryan comes from

The dictionaries list Bryan as a given name — a male given name from Irish, a less common alternative spelling of Brian — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Irish
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1883
    First appearance
    #799 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1977
    Peak, #42
    7,886 babies named Bryan — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1977
    The comeback
    Back to #42 after sinking to #952 in 1916.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Irish, a less common alternative spelling of Brian.
Namesakes

No widely known Bryan turns up in the encyclopedias yet — the name is still all theirs to make famous.

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.