Fun Facts About the Name Urian
- 289 babies named Urian: U.S. records list 289 babies given the name Urian from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Urian Mean?
Urian is an English spelling of the Welsh name Urien, which belongs to the Brittonic branch of Celtic, the ancestor of Welsh. The name's meaning is uncertain. No ancient source explains it, and the oldest recorded forms - Welsh Urien and its Latin spellings in medieval texts - do not make the sense clear. Modern name lists sometimes give the meaning as "privileged birth" or "of noble birth," but that is a later guess rather than a meaning recorded in the sources, and the first element of the name is unexplained. Urian is unrelated to the Hebrew names Uriah and Uriel; the resemblance is only one of sound.
Urian Name History & Origins
Urian takes its history from Urien of Rheged, a king who ruled in the late sixth century in the Brittonic north, the region around the Solway Firth that is now part of southern Scotland and northern England. The ninth-century Latin Historia Brittonum names him among the northern kings who fought the Angles of Bernicia, and it reports that he was killed through the plotting of a rival, Morcant. Welsh praise poetry traditionally ascribed to Taliesin, above all the poem on the battle of Argoed Llwyfain, celebrates Urien and his son Owain against an English leader it calls Fflamddwyn, usually identified with a Bernician king such as Theodric. In the northern genealogies he is Urien son of Cynfarch.
Legend soon overshadowed the historical king. Urien appears among Arthur's followers in the medieval Welsh tale The Dream of Rhonabwy, and in twelfth-century French romance he is King Urien, father of the knight Yvain in Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain, or the Knight of the Lion. English Arthurian writing adopted him too: in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur he is King Uriens of Gore, husband of Morgan le Fay and father of Sir Uwaine - the Owain of the Welsh poems in his later English form.
In English the name was written in several ways, and Urian is one of them. It appears in England and New England in the seventeenth century; Urian Oakes (1631 - 1681), a Puritan minister who became president of Harvard College, is one documented bearer. In Welsh the older spelling Urien is the usual form, and the romance spellings Uriens and Urian are later written variants of the same name rather than separate names.
How Popular is the Name Urian?
Urian has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1993. Its best rank was #3,838 in 1978.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | #12,198 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2023 | #9,672 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2022 | #14,170 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #13,977 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #14,098 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #14,124 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2008 | #7,668 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 2007 | #14,273 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2004 | #13,106 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #8,593 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #9,342 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #6,419 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #5,892 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1999 | #7,844 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #6,806 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #6,074 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1996 | #7,100 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #5,903 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #4,521 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1993 | #4,209 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1992 | #4,310 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1991 | #5,491 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1990 | #5,355 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1989 | #4,508 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1988 | #3,908 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1987 | #4,560 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1986 | #6,690 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #7,324 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #5,446 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1978 | #3,838 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1977 | #4,567 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1976 | #6,468 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1974 | #4,613 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #5,396 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Urian Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have talent, charm and luck. You can succeed in art and in any educational occupation. You attract peculiar experiences. Your power and protection lies in spiritual side of life. You are an enthusiastic collector and you will be tenacious in holding onto the things you accumulate. You have a good memory and should make an effort to have a positive attitude. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You desire to inspire and lead, to control other's affairs. You are giving, courageous and bold, action oriented,energetic and strong willed. You want to make a difference in the world, and this attitude often attracts you to cultural interests, politics, social issues, and the cultivation of your creative talents.
✦ Urian's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Urian's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.