Adrian

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled אדריאן in FR France, IL Israel and Adrián in HU Hungary.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 7 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Adrian is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Polish given name770K records spelled Adrian131 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Russia, Czechia, Croatia

  Languages: Polish, Russian, Czech

  Also written Адриан, Андриян, Адріан, Adrián, Adrijan

• Catalan given name168K records spelled Adrian2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Argentina, Andorra

  Also written Adrián

• Hungarian given name127K records spelled Adrian9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Adrián, Adorján, Adorjan, Adriàn, AdriÃn

• Romanian given name118K records spelled Adrian6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Romania, United States, Moldova, Spain

  Also written Adrián, AdriÃn, ̧-Adrian

• a separate given name74K records spelled Adrian9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, United Kingdom, Spain

  Also written Adrián, Adrían, Ádrian, Àdrian, AdriÃn

• Indonesian given name52K records spelled Adrian6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Adrián, 'Adrian, Adrian', AdriÃn

• Lao given name15K records spelled Adrian58 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, Thailand, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Lao, Thai

  Also written Adriana, Adrián, เอเดรียน, เอเดรี่ยน, Adrían

75 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Adrian is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Latin, Betsileo (Madagascar): nobility-class name; Latin: 'of the Adriatic' / 'dark one'

  as a name·African Names

• In English, Latin 'of the Adriatic'; from Hadrianus, name of the Roman emperor Hadrian.

  as a name·Irish first names

• From Latin. See fAdrian in main _ dictionary. Feminine form: Adriana.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A male given name from Latin or Etruscan.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Adrian är ett latinskt mansnamn, från början Hadrianus ’man från Hadria’ (antikens Atria, stad i norra Italien; jfr Adriatiska havet). Namnet har nått Norden via Nederländerna. Det har varit bland de populäraste pojknamnen de senaste decennierna. I både den rikssvenska och finlandssvenska almanackan 4 mars, efter en martyr i Mindre Asien (död 304).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Adriaan Willaertb. 1480BEnot in their usual nameFranco-Flemish composer and founder of the Venetian School (1480–1562)
• Leigh Harlineb. 1907USnot in their usual nameAmerican film composer and songwriter (1907-1969)
• Kim Philbyb. 1912GBnot in their usual nameKGB mole for the Soviet Union (1912–1988)
• Adrian Năstaseb. 1950RO59th Prime Minister of Romania (2000-2004)
• Adrian Smithb. 1957GBEnglish guitarist
• Adrian Pasdarb. 1965USAmerican actor and director
• Adrian Martinezb. 1972USAmerican actor
• Adrian Grenierb. 1976USAmerican actor, director, producer, musician
• Walter Samuelb. 1978ARnot in their usual nameArgentine association football player (born 1978)
• Adrian Mutub. 1979RORomanian footballer (born 1979)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 2,026 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Adrian?

We estimate roughly 1.3 million people bear Adrian (counting its spellings and scripts) across 15 countries in our records.

In which country does Adrian have the most bearers?

Adrian is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled adrian.

Where is Adrian most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Adrian is densest in the Netherlands — about 1 in 98 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Adrian compared with other names?

In Argentina, Adrian is the 64th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Adrian a male or female name?

Adrian is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Adrian mean?

Recorded meaning: from the male personal name Adrian, from Latin Adrianus or Hadrianus, literally 'person from Hadria'