What is the real name of the person in the Bad Luck Brian meme?

The real name of the person in the Bad Luck Brian meme is Kyle Craven.

The photograph was taken for Craven’s high-school yearbook in 2005 or 2006. He deliberately reddened his face, made an awkward smile, and posed in a way that looked comically unfortunate. The school principal rejected the picture and required a retake, but Craven and his friend Ian Davies had already saved the original.

Davies uploaded the image to Reddit on January 23, 2012, where captions portraying bizarre misfortunes quickly turned it into a popular image macro. The name “Bad Luck Brian” is the meme character’s nickname, not Craven’s real name. That is why answers such as Brian, Chad, or Kevin are fictional labels rather than the identity of the person pictured.

Craven later appeared in advertisements, merchandise, and other media as Bad Luck Brian. He studied construction management at Kent State University and subsequently worked in his family’s construction business.