The roots of the Berrian family can be traced back to the early Dutch settlers. (Originally spelled “Berrien,” it was changed to “Berrian” sometime in the 1800s.) Among their ancestors was Cornelius Jansen Berrien (1640-1688), who immigrated to the New Amsterdam colony from the Netherlands in 1660. In 1727, his grandson Cornelius Berrien (1697-1767) bought an island located in the East River off the shores of present-day Astoria, where he established the Berrien family homestead. Both the lesser-known Berrien's Island and Berrian Boulevard were named after the family.

Cornelius Jansen Berrien first settled in the Flatbush area of present-day Brooklyn. He married Jannetje Strycker (1642-1714), the daughter of Jan Strycker (1614-1697), a prominent political figure in the early colony. Jansen Berrien’s grandson, Cornelius Berrien, bought what was then an island in the East River, as well as surrounding land in Newtown, then a collection of villages stretching from the East River to Flushing Creek. There he built a farmhouse for his family in 1727. When he died in 1767, his son and grandson continued to live on the farm. Among Cornelius Jansen Berrien grandsons was John Barrien (1711–1772), a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1764.

In the early 1850s, the Berrien family sold their homestead. In the twentieth century, the island became part of the mainland of Queens when the area between Long Island and Berrien Island was filled in with land. Today, it is the site of a Con Edison power substation plant. Berrian Boulevard is located in northern Astoria. It begins at Steinway Place and dead ends before reaching Hazen Street (Rikers Island Bridge).