This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Doug Weller (talk | contribs) at 14:13, 23 March 2009 (→People: as this is a page linking to related articles, and there is no article for this, deleting it, thanks to the editor who spotted it originally). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 14:13, 23 March 2009 by Doug Weller (talk | contribs) (→People: as this is a page linking to related articles, and there is no article for this, deleting it, thanks to the editor who spotted it originally)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Gender | Male |
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| Origin | |
| Meaning | Hill, strong, noble, and high |
Brian is a male forename of Celtic Irish origin. Its original meaning is not known for certain but it is possibly related to the Old Celtic element bre, meaning hill, or by extension high and/or noble.
One of the earliest persons to bring fame to this name was Brian Boru, an ancient Irish high king who thwarted Viking attempts to conquer Ireland in the 11th century. His army was victorious in the Battle of Clontarf, but he was slain. The Irish O'Brien clan, one of the most common surnames in Ireland, takes their name from him.
Variants of the name include Briant, Brien, Bran, Brion, Bryan, Bryant, Brjánn (in Icelandic) and Bryon.
People
Some famous people and characters known as Brian include:
- Brian Bell (musician) (b. 1968), member of American rock group Weezer
- Brian Blessed (b. 1937), English actor
- Brian Bóruma (c. 941; 23 April 1014), Irish king who overthrew the centuries-long domination of the Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill
- Brian Cowen (b. 1960), current Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland.
- Brian Eno (b. 1948), English electronic musician, music theorist and record producer
- Brian Epstein (1934–1967), English businessperson, manager of The Beatles.
- Brian Johnson, member and lead vocalist of the hard rock band AC/DC
- Brian Johnston (1912-1994), British cricket commentator
- Brian Jones (1942-1969), founding member, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the English rock group The Rolling Stones
- Brian Joo (b. 1981), American-born Korean singer, former member of the R&B duo Fly to the Sky
- Brian Laudrup (b. 1969), former Danish international soccer player
- Brian Littrell (b. 1975), member of the boy band, The Backstreet Boys
- Brian May (b. 1947), famous guitarist from the band, Queen
- Brian McKnight (b. 1969), R&B singer
- Brian McAlister (b.1980) British actor, singer-song writer, comedian and part of pop act "The Two Brians"
- Brian Paddick (b. 1958), British politician
- Brian Peaker (born 1959), Canadian rower
- Brian Piccolo (born 1942), American football player for the Chicago Bears
- Brian Retterer (born 1972), American swimmer
- Brian Westbrook, (born 1979), American football player for the Philadelphia Eagles
- Brian Wilson (b.1942), member of American music group, The Beach Boys
Other uses
Some films and television shows which contain the name Brian include:
- Brian's Song (1971, 2001)
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
- What About Brian, television series that began in 2006
- Brian Griffin, A character on Family Guy voiced by Seth MacFarlane
References
- "Behind the Name". Retrieved 2005-06-05.
- Noel Higgins & Jeanne Goldner, Names, Names, Names, A Book for You (Middletown, Connecticut: Weekly Reader Books, 1986), page 8-b.
See also
Name listThis page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. Topics referred to by the same term
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Brian.If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Categories: