Briar
Top 1000
About Briar
Fairy-tale memories of Sleeping Beauty inspire some parents—such as Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen—to call their daughters Briar Rose. But Briar plus a different middle name might work even better. It's one of the newly popular nature-word names, charting in the US for the first time in 2015 for both genders.
While there are about four girls named Briar to every three boys, the name is on the rise for both genders. It could make for an interesting choice to honor a Brian.
Pronounced BRY-ur.
As of October 2026, Briar ranked #400 in US births in 2025 SSA, Nameberry popularity #197.
Editor's take: The name Briar is a girl's name of English origin meaning "a thorny patch".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,436 | 158 | 88.4 |
| 2015 | #836 | 336 | 188.2 |
| 2016 | #801 | 355 | 200.3 |
| 2017 | #722 | 397 | 230 |
| 2018 | #687 | 422 | 248.1 |
| 2019 | #576 | 529 | 315.2 |
| 2020 | #567 | 519 | 321.1 |
| 2021 | #516 | 597 | 363.8 |
| 2022 | #534 | 579 | 353 |
| 2023 | #549 | 550 | 342.8 |
| 2024 | #522 | 588 | 362.9 |
| 2025 | #400 | 778 | 484.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Briar.
Briar on lists
Famous Briars
- Briar Nolet
Canadian dancer, model and actress
- Briar Rose Christensen (b. 2014)
daughter of actors Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen
Briar in pop culture
- Briar Rose aka Princess Aurora
character in Disney's "Sleeping Beauty"
- Briar Rose
mother of Princess Aurora on TV's 'Once Upon A Time'
- Briar Rose
character in 1916 silent film "Hell to Pay Austin"
- Briar Beauty
daughter of Sleeping Beauty in the "Ever After High" series
- Briar Harvestar
character in "Bone" comics by Jeff Smith
- Briar Davis
character in "All Chained Up" by Sophie Jordan
- Briar Cudgeon
male character in the Artemis Fowl series
- Briar Moss
male character in the Circle of Magic and Circle Opens series by Tamora Pierce
- Sweet Briar College in Virginia
USA
- Briar Cahn
sister of Hazel and River and daughter of Craig in game "Dream Daddy"