This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Bryan.' The 'i' in Briant and Bryant is of course excrescent. Bryan was not an importation from Ireland, though its popularity as an English fontname is gone. It lingered in North Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Furness till the close of the last century. 'The Bretons, who joined in the Norman Conquest, imported it to England' (Yonge). 'Brien was always a favourite in Brittany, and is very common as a surname with the peasantry there' (ibid.); v. Brine.

Wydo Bryan, Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Alicia Bren, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Acelot Bryvon, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Thomas fil Brian, Yorkshire, ibid.

Alan fil. Brian, Yorkshire, ibid.

Brian de Brampton, Gloucestershire, ibid.

William Brian, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Colin Briant, London, 1269: Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London, 1188-1274.

The intermediate stage between Brian and Briant, or Bryant, is found in the following entry: '1770. Married — John Briand and Barbara Backhouse': St. George's, Hanover Square.

Compare riband and ribbon, and Simmons and Simmonds.

= Brian, q.v.

Wydo Bryan—Hundred Rolls

The name of a prominent Anglo-Norman family settled in Co. Kilkenny. Also occasionally used for V O’Brien. MIF 245

(Irish) Descendant of Bryan (hill).

From Brionne, Normandy; “a branch of the Counts of Bryonne, and the Earls of Clare and Hertford, descended from Gilbert, Count of Brionne, son of Richard I. of Normandy. Wido de Brionne, an ancestor of this branch, acquired a seignory in Wales about 1090. Baldwin de Brionne was Viscount of Devon in the Conqueror’s time, and Wido de Brionne, of the Welsh line, held five fees of the barony of Oakhampton in 1165.”—The Norman People. From him descended another Guy, a Welsh marcher-baron, who in 1257 was summoned to attend the King with horse and arms at Chester, “to repel the invasion of that unruly people.” When the Baron’s War broke out, he sided with the barons, who, after their victory at Lewes, committed to his charge Cardiff, and two other castles in Wales; but within two years he had “returned to due obedience,” and in 1266 became one of the sureties for the peaceable conduct of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. He married the heiress of Barnstaple, Eve de Tracy, whose barony passed to her only daughter; but by a second marriage he had a son named after himself, who in 1331 was found to be of unsound mind, and the great Welsh fief was then transferred to the next heir. This latter, Guy or Guyon, the son of the lunatic, and appointed by Edward III. Constable of St. Briavel’s, and Warden of the Forest of Dean, fought in his French and Scottish wars, and was the father of the famous soldier with whom the line terminated. Guy IV. was one of the heroes of an heroic epoch; and from the time that he gained his earliest renown as Standard Bearer to Edward III. at Calais, in 1349, till his death in 1390, there is scarcely a break in the long succession of his services by land and by sea. He was a baron of the realm by writ in 1350; a banneret in 1355; a Knight of the Garter in 1375; three times sent on embassies, twice Admiral of the Fleet; and ever foremost in the victorious train of the last Edward and his son. But on the accession of Richard II., the aspect of the war changed; and his last mission must have been bitter to the soul of the old soldier, for it was to treat for peace with John, Duke of Brittany. He married Elizabeth de Montacute, daughter of the first Earl of Salisbury (who was then, for the second time, a widow) and had two sons; but his race was not fated to endure, for no single descendant remains of him even in the female line. His younger son left no issue; and two little grand-daughters, the children of the elder, Guy (who had died in his lifetime), remained his sole representatives. They were very young—Philippa not more than twelve, and Elizabeth nine— when, at their grandfather’s death, they succeeded to a splendid inheritance, comprising lands in Devon (where Torre Brian still bears his name), Wales, Surrey, Middlesex, and Dorset. Lord Bryan’s demesnes in all these counties are included in the grant of free warren that he received from Edward III, in 1350. In the end it came wholly to Elizabeth, for Philippa, who married John Devereux, remained childless, while her sister, who was the wife of Sir Robert Lovell, had one daughter, named Maud. This second heiress was twice married; first to John Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, and then to Sir Richard Stafford; by her first husband she had a son, Humphrey, Earl of Arundel; by her second, a daughter, Avice, Countess of Ormonde. But both son and daughter died s.p.

Bryan is a Celtic personal name of great antiquity, implying originally, regulus, or chieftain.

The same as Brian or Brien (which see).

Or Brionne, from Brionne, Normandy, a branch of the Counts of Brionne, and the Earls of Clare and Hertford, descended from Gil­bert, Count of Brionne, son of Richard I. of Normandy. Wido de Brionne, an ancestor of this branch, acquired a seigneury in Wales, c. 1000. Baldwin de B. was Viscount of Devon t. Will. I., and Wido de Brionne, of the Welsh line, held five fees of the barony of Oakhampton, Devon, 1165. Wido de Brionne had a military writ of summons, 1259. The name then changed to Bryan, and the Barons Bryan inherited it.

A Norman name: From the Domesday Book, Brion. Brionne; a local name

There was a family of Bryan in Husband's Bosworth, Leicestershire, last century (N.). Bryon was the usual form of the name in the 13th century; it then occurred in Cambridgeshire, Hunts, Bucks, and Norfolk (H. R.). In addition to Leicestershire, the Bryans now characterise Derbyshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire.

The surname O’Brian comes from the Irish Gaelic O’Briain, which means ‘son of Brian’. Brian is an ancient Celtic name of uncertain origin-but the most likely explanation is that it means ‘hill’.

The family clans of the O’Brians have great importance in Ireland. This is mainly due to their illustrious predecessor, the great Brian Born, King of Leinster and Munster, who fought the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf.

The O’Brians were originally found mainly in Munster, but are now numerous all over Ireland, and indeed wherever Irishmen have immigrated. It is not unexpected to find the name O’Brian occurring frequently in London, Boston, or Sydney, but a little-known fact is that one of the great wines of France-Chateau Haut Brian-is in fact derived from the Irish O’Brian. (The O’Brians are not the only Irish to have distinguished themselves in this most French of preserves-witness the Hennessys of Cognac fame.) In some cases the Irish O’Brian is derived from O’Byrne (see Byrne), derived from O’Biorain. Also, during the centuries of British persecution in Ireland, many Irish O’Brians found it prudent to anglicise their name to Byran, Bryon or Bryom: compare the case of the Byrnes, above. In other cases it is a derivation of the first name Brian, which in this instance came to England with the Norman Conquest, being found in Latinised form in the Domesday Book, and giving rise to a number of variant English surnames such as Bryant and Byrne. Thus the Irish who switched from O’Brian to Bryan were really doing little more than completing a circle of variations.

The O’Briens have produced several Irish literary figures during this century. The novelist Edna O’Brien (b. 1932) is famed for her romantic portrayals of her childhood in remote County Clare. The humorist Flann O’Brien (1911— 66), whose real name was Brian O’Nolan, is best remembered for his hilarious novel At Swim-Two-Birds. Conor Cruise O’Brien (b. 1917) is a politician and journalist, as well as a biographer. He served as UN representative in the Congo during the Katanga crisis, and is now editor of the Observer.

Special effects genius Willis O’Brien gave birth to one of the screen’s greatest stars, King Kong. His brilliant stop-animation techniques reached a peak with the climactic battle with aircraft atop the Empire State Building-one of the most memorable scenes in cinema history. O’Brien’s handiwork was unsurpassed 43 years later, when Dino De Laurentiis, employing the latest technology, resurrected the giant ape. A laudable attempt, the second ape wasn’t a patch on the strangely charming original.

Place and major geographic feature names related to O’Brien are rare. The United Kingdom has none. Ireland has 2 towns-O’Briensbridge and O’Briens Town, while Canada has one town called simply O’Brien.

With about 35,000 namesakes O’Brien is Ireland’s 6th most popular surname. Thus about one out of every 135 residents of Ireland is an O’Brien. (The name is not common enough throughout England, Scotland and Wales to be counted separately.) Around the world O’Briens are most common in Canberra (one in 500 families), Melbourne (one in 785) and Brisbane (one in 887). The United States has an estimated total of just under 133,000 O’Briens-this makes it their 195th most popular surname.