Unisex · English (Old English) · International
Briar
BriarSay it BRY-er
- Meaning
- A prickly, thorny bush; now chiefly the wild rose Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v. brier (n.1)
- Say it
- BRY-er
- Other spellings
- Brier
Briar
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Briar meaning
Briar is an international unisex name of English origin (Old English), used for both girls and boys.
A prickly, thorny bush; now chiefly the wild rose
Briar is an English nature word. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces it, through Middle English brere, to Old English brēr, a prickly bush, and says the spelling briar dates from about 1600; its deeper origin is unknown. The word first meant any thorny shrub and now mostly means the wild rose, as in sweet briar. In English versions of the Grimms' fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty is called Little Briar-Rose, and a hedge of thorns grows around her castle. The briar of tobacco pipes is a separate word from French. It is said BRY-er.
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), s.v. brier (n.1) · entry brier · See the entry · checked 27 Oct 2026
References: Online Etymology Dictionary, brier (n.1) · Grimm's Fairy Tales, Little Briar-Rose (Project Gutenberg)
Popularity abroad
- #400 United States, girls 2025 (up 122 from 522 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Briar · Brier