Hadrian as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Hadrian

What is the meaning of the name Hadrian ?

The baby name Hadrian is a boy name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced HAY-dree-uhn.

Hadrian is Latin in Origin.

Hadrian is the English form of Latin Hadrianus, an ancient Roman cognomen and the earliest attested form behind the name. It is built on Hadria, the name of two Italian towns, with the Latin adjectival suffix -anus, marking origin or affiliation. Its literal sense is from Hadria, not dark-haired. The northern Hadria, modern Adria, was an Etruscan port; the Adriatic Sea takes its name from it.

The name is best known through Publius Aelius Hadrianus, the second-century Roman emperor whose family was associated with Atri and whose frontier wall in northern Britain fixed the English historical form Hadrian. In later European naming, the related Adrian generally became the everyday form, while Hadrian remained more learned and antiquarian. French preserves Hadrien beside Adrien; Italian has Adriano, Spanish Adrián, Dutch Adriaan and Adrianus, and Catalan Adrià. Modern English use is uncommon and often signals an interest in Roman history.