Adrian

English: /ˈdriən/ AY-dree-ən
German: [ˈaːdʁiaːn]
Romanian: [adriˈan]
Polish: [ˈadrjan]
Spanish: [aˈðɾjan]GenderMaleOther genderFeminineAdriana, Adriane, AdrienneOriginWord/nameLatinMeaning"from Adria"Region of originPinnaculum AnatariusOther namesNickname(s)Ade, Adi, AdyRelated namesAdriaan, Adriaen, Adriana, Adriane, Adriano/Adrião, Adrianus, Adrien, Adrienne, Adi, Ari, Arie, Hadrien, Jadran, Jadranko

Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word adur, meaning "sea" or "water".[1][2]

The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main channel of the Po River into the Adriatic Sea but ceased to exist before the 1st century BC. Hecataeus of Miletus (c.550 – c.476 BC) asserted that both the Etruscan harbor city of Adria and the Adriatic Sea had been named after it.[3] Emperor Hadrian's family was named after the city or region of Adria/Hadria, now Atri, in Picenum, which most likely started as an Etruscan or Greek colony of the older harbor city of the same name.[4]

Several saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages.

Religion

Government and politics

Academia

Military

  • Adrian Becher (1897–1957), British Army officer and cricketer
  • Adrian von Bubenberg (1434–1479), Bernese knight, military commander and mayor
  • Adrian Carton de Wiart (1880–1963), Belgian-born British Army lieutenant-general awarded the Victoria Cross
  • Adrian Cole (RAAF officer) (1895–1966), Australian World War I flying ace
  • Adrian Johns (born 1951), English governor of Gibraltar and former Royal Navy vice-admiral
  • Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha (1848–1920), German military commander in Africa
  • Adrian Marks (1917–1998), United States Navy pilot
  • Adrian Consett Stephen (1894–1918), Australian artillery officer and playwright
  • Adrian Warburton (1918–1944), British Second World War pilot
  • Adrián Woll (1795–1875), French Mexican general during the Texas Revolution and the Mexican–American War

Sports

American football

  • Adrian Amos (born 1993), American football player
  • Adrian Arrington (born 1985), American football player
  • Adrian Awasom (born 1983), Cameroon-born American football player
  • Adrian Baird (born 1979), Canadian football player
  • Adrian Baril (1898–1961), American football player
  • Adrian Battles (born 1987), American football player
  • Adrian Breen (quarterback) (born 1965), American football player
  • Adrian Burk (1927–2003), American football player
  • Adrian Clarke (born 1991), Canadian football player
  • Adrian Clayborn (born 1988), American football player
  • Adrian Colbert (born 1993), American football player
  • Adrian Cooper (born 1968), American football player
  • Adrian Davis (Canadian football) (born 1981), Canadian football player
  • A. J. Davis (cornerback, born 1983), American football player known as A.J. Davis
  • Adrian Dingle (American football) (born 1977), American football player
  • Adrian Ealy (born 1999), American football player
  • Adrian Ford (1904–1977), American football player
  • Adrian Grady (born 1985), American football player
  • Adrian Hamilton (born 1987), American football player
  • Adrian Hardy (born 1970), American football player
  • Adrian Hubbard (born 1992), American football player
  • Adrian Jones (American football) (born 1981), American football player
  • Adrian Killins (born 1998), American football player
  • Adrian Klemm (born 1977), American football player and coach
  • Adrian Madise (born 1980), American football player
  • Adrian Magee (born 1996), American football player
  • Adrian Martinez (American football) (born 2000), American football player
  • Adrian Mayes (born 1980), American football player
  • Adrian Moten (born 1988), American football player
  • Adrian Murrell (born 1970), American football player
  • Adrian Peterson (American football, born 1979), American football player
  • Adrian Peterson (born 1985), American football player
  • Adrian Phillips (born 1992), American football player
  • Adrian Robinson (1989–2015), American football player
  • Adrian Ross (born 1975), American football player
  • Adrian Tracy (born 1988), American football player
  • Adrian White (American football) (born 1964), American football player
  • Adrian Wilson (American football) (born 1979), American football player
  • Adrian Young (American football) (born 1949), American football player

Association football

Baseball

Basketball

Boxing

  • Adrian Blair (born 1943), Australian boxer
  • Adrian Clark (boxer) (born 1986), American boxer
  • Adrian Diaconu (born 1978), Romanian boxer
  • Adrián Hernández (boxer) (born 1986), Mexican boxer
  • Adrian Mora (born 1978), American boxer

Cricket

  • Adrian Aymes (born 1964), British cricketer
  • Adrian Barath (born 1990), West Indian cricketer
  • Adrian Birrell (born 1960), South African cricketer and coach
  • Adrian Brown (cricketer) (born 1962), English cricketer
  • Adrian Jones (cricketer) (born 1961), English cricketer
  • Adrian Rollins (born 1972), English cricketer

Ice hockey

  • Adrian Aucoin (born 1973), Canadian ice hockey player
  • Adrian Foster (ice hockey) (born 1982), Canadian ice hockey player
  • Adrian Kempe (born 1996), Swedish ice hockey player
  • Adrian Wichser (born 1980), Swiss ice hockey player

Racing

Rugby

  • Adrian Apostol (born 1990), Romanian rugby player
  • Adrian Barich (born 1963), Australian rules footballer and television and radio presenter
  • Adrian Barone (born 1987), New Zealand rugby union footballer
  • Adrian Bassett (born 1967), Australian rules footballer
  • Adrian Battiston (born 1963), Australian rules footballer
  • Adrian Beer (born 1943), Australian rules footballer
  • Adrian Clarke (rugby union) (born 1938), New Zealand rugby player
  • Adrian Davies (born 1969), English rugby player
  • Adrian Davis (rugby league) (born 1990), Australian rugby player
  • Adrian Garvey (born 1968), Zimbabwean-born South African rugby union player
  • Adrian Lungu (born 1960), Romanian rugby player
  • Adrian Morley (born 1977), English rugby player
  • Adrian Pllotschi (born 1959), Romanian rugby player and coach
  • Adrian Stoop (1883–1957), English rugby union player
  • Adrian Young (footballer) (1943–2020), Australian rugby player

Swimming

Tennis

Other

Arts and entertainment

  • Adrian Adlam (born 1963), British violinist and conductor
  • Adrian Aeschbacher (1912–2002), Swiss classical pianist
  • Adrian Alandy (born 1980), Filipino actor and model
  • Adrian Allinson (1890–1959), British painter, potter and engraver
  • Adrián Alonso (born 1994), Mexican actor
  • Adrian Alphona, Canadian comic book artist
  • Adrian Alvarado (actor) (born 1976), American actor
  • Adrian Anantawan (born 1986), Canadian violinist
  • Adrian Augier, St. Lucian poet and producer
  • Adrian Bică Bădan (born 1988), Romanian footballer
  • Adrian Baker (born 1951), English singer, songwriter, and record producer
  • Adrian Bărar (1960–2021), Romanian guitarist and composer
  • Adrian Barber (1938–2020), English musician and producer
  • Adrian Batten (1591–1637), English organist
  • Adrian Bawtree (born 1968), English composer and organist
  • Adrian Beaumont (born 1937), British composer, conductor, and professor
  • Adrian Beers (1916–2004), British double bass player and teacher
  • Adrian Belew (born 1949), American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer
  • Adrian Biddle (1952–2005), English cinematographer
  • Adrian Blevins (born 1964), American poet
  • Adrian Borland (1957–1999), English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer
  • Adrian Boult (1889–1983), English conductor
  • Adrian Brown (1929–2019), British director and poet
  • Adrian Brown (born 1949), British conductor
  • Adrian Brunel (1892–1958), English film director and screenwriter
  • Adrian Bustamante (born 1981), American actor
  • Adrián Caetano (born 1969), Uruguayan-Argentine film director, producer and screenplay writer
  • Adrian Carmack (born 1969), American video game artist
  • Adrián Carrio (born 1986), Spanish pianist
  • Adrian Chiles (born 1967), British television and radio presenter
  • Adrian Clarke (photographer), English photographer
  • Adrian Clarke (poet), British poet
  • Adrian Conan Doyle (1910–1970), English race-car driver, big-game hunter, explorer, and writer
  • Adrian Dingle (artist) (1911–1974), Welsh-Canadian painter and comic book artist
  • Adrian Dunbar (born 1958), Northern Ireland actor
  • Adrian Edmondson (born 1957), better known as Ade Edmondson, English actor, comedian, director, writer and musician
  • Adrian Enescu (1948–2016), Romanian composer
  • Adrian Erlandsson (born 1970), Swedish heavy metal drummer
  • Adrian Fisher (musician) (1952–2000), former guitarist for Sparks (band)
  • Adrian Gaxha (born 1984), Macedonian singer-songwriter and producer
  • Adrian Ghenie (born 1977), Romanian painter
  • Adrian Gonzales (1937–1998), Filipino comic book artist
  • Adrián Luis González (born 1939), Mexican potter
  • Adrian Gray (born 1961), British artist
  • Adrian Adolph Greenburg (1903–1959), costume designer for over 250 films, known as simply Adrian
  • Adrian Grenier (born 1976), American actor, producer, director, musician and environmentalist
  • Adrian Griffin (drummer), Australian drummer
  • Adrian Gurvitz (born 1949), English singer, musician and songwriter
  • Adrian Hall (actor) (born 1959), British actor and co-director
  • Adrian Hall (artist) (born 1943), British artist
  • Adrian Hall (director) (1927–2023), American theatre director
  • Adrian Hates (born 1973), German dark wave musician
  • Adrian Heath (1920–1992), British painter
  • Adrian Heathfield, British writer and curator
  • Adrian Hoven (1922–1981), Austrian actor, producer and film director
  • Adrian A. Husain (born 1945), Pakistani poet
  • Adrian Ivaniţchi (born 1947), Romanian folk musician and guitarist
  • Adrian Jones (sculptor) (1845–1938), English sculptor and painter who specialized in animals, particularly horses
  • Adrian Jones (born 1978), Swedish musician, member of Gjallarhorn
  • Adrian Karsten (1960–2005), American sports reporter
  • Adrian Kowanek (born 1977), Polish musician
  • Adrian Le Roy (1520–1598), French string player, composer, music publisher and educator
  • Adrian Leaper (born 1953), English conductor
  • Adrian Legg (born 1948), English guitar player
  • Adrian Lester (born 1968), British actor
  • Adrian Lucas (born 1962), English organist, tutor, and composer
  • Adrian Lulgjuraj (born 1980), Albanian rock singer
  • Adrian Lukis (born 1957), British actor
  • Adrian Lux (born 1986), Swedish disc jockey and music producer
  • Adrian Lyne (born 1941), English filmmaker and producer
  • Adrian Martin (born 1959), Australian film and arts critic
  • Adrian Martinez (actor) (born 1972), American actor and comedian
  • Adrian McKinty (born 1968), Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels
  • Adrian Minune (born 1974), Romani-Romanian manele singer
  • Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008), English poet, novelist and playwright
  • Adrian William Moore (born 1956), British philosopher and broadcaster
  • Adrián Navarro (born 1969), Argentine actor
  • Adrian Noble (born 1950), English theatre director
  • Adrian Pasdar (born 1965), American actor and film director
  • Adrian Paul (born 1959), English actor
  • Adrian Pecknold (1920–1999), Canadian mime, director, and author
  • Adrian Petriw (born 1987), Canadian actor
  • Adrian Picardi (born 1987), American filmmaker
  • Adrian Pintea (1954–2007), Romanian actor
  • Adrian Piotrovsky (1898–1937), Russian dramaturge
  • Adrian Piper (born 1948), American conceptual artist and philosophy professor
  • Adrian R'Mante (born 1978), American television actor
  • Adrian Rawlins (born 1958), English actor
  • Adrian Ludwig Richter (1803–1884), German painter and etcher
  • Adrian Rodriguez (DJ), German DJ
  • Adrián Rodríguez (born 1988), Spanish actor and singer from Catalonia
  • Adrian Rodriguez, American bass guitarist for The Airborne Toxic Event
  • Adrian Rollini (1903–1956), American multi-instrumentalist best known for his jazz music
  • Adrian Ross (1859–1933), British lyricist
  • Adrián Rubio, Mexican actor and model
  • Adrian Scarborough (born 1968), English character actor
  • Adrian Scott (1912–1972), American screenwriter and film producer
  • Adrian Shaposhnikov (1888–1967), Russian classical composer
  • Adrian Sherwood (born 1958), English record producer
  • Adrian Sînă (born 1977), Romanian singer-songwriter and record producer
  • Adrian D. Smith (born 1944), American architect
  • Adrian Smith (born 1957), English musician and one of three guitarists/songwriters in the English band Iron Maiden
  • Adrian Smith (illustrator), British illustrator
  • Adrian Steirn, Australian photographer and filmmaker working in Africa
  • Adrian Consett Stephen (1894–1918), Australian artillery officer and playwright
  • Adrian Stokes (critic) (1902–1972), British art critic
  • Adrian Scott Stokes (1854–1935), English landscape painter
  • Adrian Stroe (born 1959), Romanian serial killer
  • Adrian Sturges (born 1976), British film producer
  • Adrián Suar (born 1968), Argentine actor and media producer
  • Adrian Tanner, English writer and director
  • Adrian Taylor (producer) (1954–2014), American television news producer
  • Adrian Tchaikovsky (born 1972), British fantasy and science fiction author
  • Adrián Terrazas-González (born 1975), Mexican jazz composer and wind player
  • Adrian Thaws (born 1968), English musician and actor
  • Adrian Tomine (born 1974), American cartoonist
  • Adrian Utley (born 1957), English musician best known as a member of the band Portishead
  • Adrian Vandenberg (born 1954), Dutch rock guitarist
  • Adrian Wells (born 1989), British-American clinical psychologist, singer and songwriter
  • Adrian White (musician), Canadian drummer
  • Adrian White (author), Anglo-Irish writer
  • Adrian Willaert (c. 1490–1562), Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School
  • Adrian Wilson (actor) (born 1969), South African model and actor
  • Adrian Wilson (artist) (born 1964), British artist and photographer
  • Adrian Wong (born 1990), Hong Kong actress
  • Adrian Wright (1947–2015), English-Australian actor
  • Adrian Young (born 1969), American drummer for the rock band No Doubt
  • Adrian Younge (born 1978), American composer, arranger, and music producer
  • Adrian Zagoritis (born 1968), British songwriter and record producer
  • Adrian Zingg (1734–1816), Swiss painter
  • Adrian Zmed (born 1954), American television personality and film actor

Other

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ^ Adrian Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, p.7. ISBN 1-85986-323-X.
  2. ^ Room 2006, p. 20.
  3. ^ Bonomi, Simonetta (1998). "Adria e Spina". In Rebecchi, Fernando (ed.). Spina e il delta padano (Atti del convegno "Spina, due civiltà a confronto") (in Italian). L'erma di Bretschneider. pp. 241–3. ISBN 88-7062-983-X.
  4. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1854). "Adria". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Vol. 1. London: John Murray. p. 8.

Sources

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