Bryn

Bryn is a newly coined name. It’s Welsh and means “hill, mound” perhaps inspired by a place name in Wales, Brynmor, meaning “great hill”. Brynn was introduced to the American female charts in the 1980s but really took off in the early 21st century and so the shorter, truer form of Bryn followed only recently. Brynn has managed to achieve Top 200 status in the United States but Bryn with one “n” is much less popular. Both are pretty sounding one-syllable names with Welsh-looking spellings (similar to Lynn, Rhys, etc). A lot of people might consider Bryn a female form of Brian, but Briana is considered Brian’s girly counterpart. Bryn is definitely Welsh with a somewhat random etymology (i.e., hill, mound) but it also gives one the sense of achievement. Consider various places and colleges named Bryn Mawr (Welsh for “big hill”) in the United States influenced by the Welsh name. And even though Bryn is quite modern in terms of usage, it still has an old-school Celtic flavor. Incidentally, although Bryn is used as a girl’s name in the United States, elsewhere it’s generally considered masculine.