How to say it
bri · AN · na
/briˈæn.ə/
Feminine
Brianna
Noble, strong
What it means
Modern feminine of Brian, an Irish name from a root meaning 'high, noble' or 'strong.' Briana appears in Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) but the modern feminine of Brian is a 20th-century American coinage.
Brianna is the modern feminine of Brian, an Irish name from a root meaning either 'high, noble' or 'strong.' Brian Boru (Brian mac Cennétig, d. 1014) was the High King of Ireland who defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf; his name is the founding cultural anchor for the masculine form. The feminine Brianna appears in Spenser's 1590 Faerie Queene but didn't catch on as a given name until the late 20th century in the US, where it surged in the 1990s. Outlander's Brianna Fraser (the time-traveling daughter, 2014 onward) gave it a modern literary anchor. It peaked in the US in 2000 and is sliding gently. Bri is the standard short.
Popularity over time
peaked at #14 in 1999, currently #222 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Bri is the universal short. Anna also shows up as a short, picking up the back half of the name.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Brianna Fraser Outlander's time-traveling daughter, played by Sophie Skelton (2014-present)
Spelling variants
- Briana
- Bryana
- Breanna
Names with the same feeling
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