Brian

This name is of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. The name may derive from an Old Celtic word, meaning “noble, strong, and virtuous” or borrowing from the Proto-Brythonic “*brigonos,” meaning “high, noble.” The name is quite popular in Ireland, on account of Brian Boru (~941–1014), (Old Irish: Brian Bóruma Mac Cennétig, Modern Irish: Brian Bóroimhe), an Irish King who ended the domination of the high kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. The name was also quite popular in East Anglia during the Middle Ages because Bretons introduced the name to England following the Norman Conquest. The Bretons also settled in Ireland with the Normans in the 12th-century, and the name was mixed with the “Irish” version. In Gothic mythology, and especially in Scotland, Brian was a pretentious man who helped Cailleach save Deò-ghrèine. He was the son of Tuireann and the brother of Iuchar and Iucharba.