Name of the Day: Briallen
Every once in a while, someone suggests a name that is perfectly legitimate, but all-but-unknown.
And so gold stars to Photoqulity for suggesting Briallen as Name of the Day.
Briallen is Welsh. But you won’t find her in the history books. Instead, while American parents have been dreaming up new twists on Jadon and Caitlin and turning Story and Azalea into baby names, Welsh parents have been discovering new options themselves.
Briallen is borrowed from the Welsh word for primrose. Briallu is the plural; the Briallen Fair is a variety. (Or I’m fairly certain – my Welsh is non-existent, so I’m relying on translations.) While flower power appellations have been chosen by parents for generations, Briallen is a newcomer.
Not only has Briallen never charted in the US Top 1000, she’s not present in the census records. And while she does appear sparingly in the UK Birth Index, again, it’s a recent phenomenon. Wales Online reports that parents are turning to traditional names – but it is difficult for me to say whether Briallen would qualify as a heritage choice or sound hopelessly nouveau.
Pronunciation is a bit of a challenge: breh ALL ehn or breh AHL lehn is probably closest to the Welsh. But stateside, it is almost certain that your child would find herself answering to bree AHL len or bree AL en.
At least until one of those new Welsh kiddos grows up and becomes famous – or Catherine Zeta-Jones has another baby.
For the moment, the most prominent uses of Briallen tend to be for romantic product names – a strappy sandal, a bridesmaid’s dress, a silky top by Theory.
Little wonder she’s yet to crack the US Top 1000.
And yet Briallen could take off. She shares her three-syllable, ends-in-n construction with modern classic Allison and chart-topping sensation Madison. Factor in the possibility of the “bree” sound, and she could be a winner. From the 2008 Top 1000, we find:
- Brianna (#23), Briana (#145), Breanna (#168) and Bryanna (#512);
- Gabriella (#35), Gabrielle (#79) and Gabriela (#131);
- Sabrina (#145);
- Brielle (#338), Brisa (#787), Brylee (#531), Briley (#819) and Bria (#924);
- Aubrey (#42) and Aubree (#276).
As an independent given name, Bree charted a few times between 1976 and 2006 – and plenty of Brianas and Brileys, Aubreys and Gabrielles probably answer to the diminutive, too. Brie has never ranked, but is sometimes used, despite sharing her name with a cheese. Both Bree and Brie are probably best considered Anglicizations of the Irish feminine Brígh.
Parents searching for a name that is just a little bit different could be charmed by Briallen. She’s feminine but not at all fussy and taps into the craze for botanical names while remaining quite rare. If there’s any downside to Briallen, it is that you’d almost have to content yourself with a less-than-authentic pronunciation – at least in the United States. But she’s modern, tailored and intriguing.
Filed under: Flower Power, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Nature Babes, Rarities | 11 Comments
Tags: Bree, Briallen, Brie
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I like the name, but think it would fall into the related-to-made-up-name-Brielle category. I wouldn’t want to use a name that sounds made up, however legitimate it might be. That said, I like the sound of it…and of course would never use it.
I like her quite a bit. She is a hidden gem. I also love the meaning.
Hmmm… I read it as “bree-allen” kind of like ethan-allen Welshified. It’s not my kind of name. Funny thing for me with the Welsh names; I tend not to like the ones that are gwen/wen/bree based names…. and that does seem to be many of them, I’ll admit. Adding the name Allen to the end of one of those roots doesn’t really excite me (I’m not a fan of Allen, regardless of its spelling). It’s clear it has the makings to be a popular name and I respect it for at least not being made up, but it’s really not for me.
Interesting, Briallen is. I think she’d be mangled here in the States. I also think I’d like her if I lived in Wales.
I know a Brian whose wife is pregnant, maybe I should toss this one at them, for a girl. It definitely has the hallmarks of a fast riser,
Yeah, Briallen could go places. Not on my kid, but I wouldn’t mind it on someone else’s.
This one’s not for me I’m afraid. She’s very interesting indeed, but all I see in the word is ‘Braille’ and I don’t find her very feminine really.
Gut reaction: I don’t like it at all.
Had I not read this, I would have ignorantly assumed it was an amalgam of mommy and daddy’s names, something like Brielle and Allen. I’d be interested to get a Welsh perspective.
Hmmm… it’s pretty, and it would be a viable choice in some other countries. Here, unfortunately, it does sound contrived and definitely masculine.
Stumbled on a girl who writes an Australian name blog… I love that her daughters are Rory and Indie! http://anamebyanyotherrose.squarespace.com
I think I actually prefer “Briallu”, even though it’s the plural! Sounds sprightly.
I was going to use Briallen as a middle name for my daughter to honor my brother and mother. His name is Bret Alan and one of her very favorite names is Brianne (bree-ANN) [Emilie Brianne being her chosen combo for another daughter]. But my brother named his daughter Breeana (bree-AH-nah). That’s too close for me, so I had to choose Bettany to replace it, as a combination of Bret and my given name of Stephanie (Panya is the name I go by, from Szczepana, maybe you could feature those names
).
Panya, I’ve never heard Szczepana before! Though Szczepan came up when we were naming our son, as a possible middle. Two barriers: while I understand how to say “szcz,” I struggle to pronounce it. I think it is the kind of sound that you have to master young. And his first name had to be Alex. And our last name starts with S. So we couldn’t use a middle name that starts with S. But I have an uncle Stephen I would’ve loved to have honored.
Anyway, Bettany is neat!
I really wanted to use Szczepan as a mn for our son, both to honor me, and my g-g-g-g-gpa [!] Szczepan, but my husband has a speech impediment and can’t say ‘szcz’!