In my Italian name book I found a little more on
ADRIANO:
All about the meaning of the name – that originally indicated someone from that city – is uncertain, although many connect Hadria to Latin ater, atra, atrum, which can have various meanings depending on the case: “dark,” “dismal,” “gloomy,” “stormy.” So
Adriano could be “one who is hard to get on with,” or else “he who bears misfortune”: in fact in ancient Rome the so-called “dies atri” were the “ill-fated or gloomy days.” (
Marina Cepeda Fuentes and
Stefano Cattabiani: Dizzionario dei nomi,
Roma 1992)
As Italian is not a language I really know at all, here is the original:
Quanto al signficato del nome – che inizialmente indicava chi era di quelle città – è incerto, sebbene molti colleghino Hadria al latino ater, atra, atrum che a vari significati secondo i casi: “oscuro”, “funesto”, “lugubre”, burrascoso”. Siccé
Adriano potrebbe essere “colui difficile ad interdersi”, oppure “colui que porta sventura”: infatti nell’antica
Roma i cosiddetti dies atri erano “i giorni malaugurati o funesti”.