Adrian
Feminine · “from Hadria”
Adrian is given to both — 15,717 girls and 272,265 boys since 1880. See Adrian as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Adrian is a Roman name from a place: Hadria, an Adriatic port that gave its name to the sea and to an emperor. It is given to girls in Spanish-speaking and American records alike.
How old is the name Adrian?
Adrian first appears in US birth records in 1911 — 114 years ago. The typical Adrian alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 14,500 people named Adrian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Adrian most popular?
Adrian peaked in 1983, reaching #440 nationally. Today it ranks #3645, 3,205 places below that high. See the whole 1983 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hadria to Adrian
The story of Adrian
Hadria was a small Adriatic port and its name attached to the whole sea. The emperor Hadrian carried it, and so did several popes — including the only English one. The name entered every European language, and Spanish made Adrián and Adriana. In American records Adrian is given to boys in far larger numbers and to girls steadily, and this page is written for both.
Meaning
from Hadria
From Latin Hadrianus, a man of Hadria — a town in northern Italy that gave the Adriatic its name. The emperor Hadrian's family came from a Spanish town of the same name, and the wall in Britain is his.
How the name formed
- Hadria
- Hadrianus
- Adrian
Related forms: Adrián · Adriano · Adrian · Adriana
Pronouncing Adrian
AY-dree-un
Three syllables, first stressed. Spanish gives ah-dree-AHN, with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Adrian
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1911
- Most girls named
- 1983479 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #440reached in 1983
- Change vs 2023
- −41.4%41 in 2025, from 70
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Adrian in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Adrián in Spanish — same name
- Adriano in Italian — same name
- Adrian in Russian — same name
- Adriana in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio.
Adrians among us
people named Adrian are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 39,202 born in 2025 was named Adrian
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Barb test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Adrian's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Barb climbed just as high around 1960, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Barb's path sketches the road Adrian is walking now.
Adrian sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Adrian is headed
Adrian should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Adrian beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Adrian in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning tied to a real place and a real sea.
- A documented record from the Roman empire to the present.
- Adri and Ada are both usable short forms.
- It is read as a boy's name by default in America, and she will correct that often.
- The English and Spanish stress patterns are entirely different.
- Adriana is the standard feminine and will be assumed by many.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Adrian
Feminine · #3645 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Adrians are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 14,500 people named Adrian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Adrian in 2025?
- Adrian ranks #3645 among US girl names in 2025, with 41 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Adrian?
- About 1 in every 39,202 US girls born in 2025 was named Adrian — 41 in all.
- Will my child share the name Adrian with classmates?
- Adrian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Adrian
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elenor#3645 · Azucena#3645 · Alaura#3645 · Judah#3645 · Rylen#3645 · Zamiyah#3645 · Naiara#3645 · Marietta#3645
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Adrian? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Adrian and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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