Briana
Meaning
feminine form of Brian, traditionally meaning 'noble' or 'strong'
The story
Briana takes Brian, one of Ireland's great royal names, and gives it a feminine ending; it is traditionally read as noble and strong. In American usage it is essentially modern: scarcely seen before the 1970s, it climbed quickly from there, with its strongest run coming in the 1990s and 2000s before easing. Those peak years belong to its most storied bearer, Briana Scurry, goalkeeper of the 1999 United States World Cup team, whose lunging save in the final's penalty shootout against China set up the most famous victory in American women's soccer. She won two Olympic golds as well and later became the first Black woman inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. The chart crested while she was making history; we cannot prove the connection, but the timing is hard to ignore.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Briana peaked in the 1990s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,006 people · the #8,255 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 200,000 · median age 6
Among people named Briana living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 381 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Briana
Most people given the name Briana in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Briana you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Briana deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Briana truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Briana fits with your family’s names and surname.
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