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Samenvatting
- Brianna is not in the Bible and its meaning is not settled. It is the feminine of Brian, whose Old Irish origin is uncertain — possibly from a root meaning “hill, high”, possibly one meaning “might, power”.
- The popular gloss “noble” is a later smoothing rather than a documented meaning.
- The feminine form appears in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene in 1590, making it a poet’s coinage like Vanessa and Geraldine.
- Brian Boru broke Viking attempts to conquer Ireland and was killed at Clontarf while his army won.
- Scripture is suspicious of height: the “high places” are a recurring problem, Babel was built to make a name, and the movement of God is consistently downward — Philippians 2 describes it as deliberate.
Bibliografie (Klik om te tonen)
Sources: Behind the Name entries for Brianna, Briana and Brian (feminine of Brian; appears in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, 1590; Brian’s meaning uncertain, possibly from Celtic *brixs “hill, high” or *brigā “might, power”; Brian Boru and Clontarf); Scripture from the NIV via BibleGateway (Genesis 11:4-7; Philippians 2:6-9; Romans 15:1; 2 Kings 12:3).
