Brisbane

BRIZ-bin

Scottish surname and Australian place name

"break bone"

Brisbane Origin and Meaning

The name Brisbane is a boy's name meaning "break bone".

Influencer couple Rachel and Jordan Flom put Brisbane on the baby name map when they used it for one of their triplet sons, born in 2024. Australian place names — from Adelaide to Sydney to Victoria — have long been favorites among parents, but Brisbane has a more modern, gender-neutral appeal.

The Australian city was named after the Brisbane River, itself named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, a governor of New South Wales. Sir Brisbane was of Scottish descent, as was his surname — a traditional Scottish clan name from a nickname for one with broken bones or who would break others' bones. Ultimately, it is derived from the Scottish Gaelic bris, meaning "break" and the Old English bān, "bone".