Brian
A surname that usually began as a patronymic from the personal name Brian, especially in Irish and English usage.
The #7,854 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 73,267 Americans shares it.
Etymology
As a surname, Brian is usually taken from the medieval personal name Brian, meaning that it originally marked someone as “son of Brian” or “descendant of Brian.” In Irish tradition it is strongly associated with the famous name Brian, borne by Brian Boru, though English usage also treated Brian as a hereditary surname and later as a given name. The deeper origin of the personal name Brian itself is ancient and somewhat debated, so the surname is best understood as patronymic rather than as a word with a secure literal meaning.
History
In Irish families, related forms such as O'Brien developed from the name Brian and became widely established as hereditary surnames. In English records, Brian also appears as a surname independently, and 19th-century writers note it as a recognized baptismal-source surname rather than a direct Irish import in every case. Variant spellings such as Briant and Brien appear in historical sources.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname helped feed the popularity of Brian as a first name in English-speaking countries, especially after the fame of Brian Boru and the spread of O'Brien.
From the historical record
“then put in the genitive case, or d, or ua, 'grandson', to the. grand- father's name, which was then similarly inflected. Some of these early personal names, like Aodh, Brian, Cian, Conchobhar, Domhnall, Donnchadh, Eochaidh, and Eoghan (in the Irish-character forms the h is represented by a dot over the preceding…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)