How common is the name Brian?

1,011,020 people in the United States have the first name Brian, about 1 in 299. It ranks #25 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BRIAN

#25

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
1,011,020
About
1 in 299
This common or more
14.1%
Who bears it

Of the 1,011,020 people named Brian, 80.1% reported their origin as White, 8% as Hispanic or Latino and 6.1% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Brian peaked in 1972, when 36,477 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19092025
Peak year
1972
Births that year
36,477
In 2025*
979 ▼97%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 1,178,298 babies have been given the name since 1909. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Brian by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #9. The largest share of babies named Brian, 42.1%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1900s#4,9315
1910s#3,768116
1920s#1,831566
1930s#6623,173
1940s#24022,840
1950s#66112,529
1960s#21258,898
1970s#9324,243
1980s#21235,361
1990s#55119,681
2000s#9569,972
2010s#31424,141
2020s#5946,773
Greatest Generation 1901–270%
Silent Generation 1928–451.1%
Baby boom 1946–6420.6%
Generation X 1965–8042.1%
Millennials 1981–9625.3%
Generation Z 1997–129.1%
2013 and later1.8%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Brian is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Brian has been most common in Delaware (1.6×), New Hampshire (1.6×), and Massachusetts (1.5×), and least common in Mississippi (0.42×).

1,174,527 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Brian

#23 Anthony · 1,075,181#24 Kevin · 1,015,227#26 Susan · 979,771#27 Steven · 972,808

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Brian, most common first.

#156 Bryan · 327,372#663 Briana · 79,981#5,767 Brien · 2,889#6,889 Brion · 2,275#9,644 Briann · 1,428#16,017 Brin · 710#16,385 Brinn · 689#17,946 Bran · 606

Also a last name

As a last name, Brian ranks #8,474 of 156,621, with 3,738 people. See Brian as a last name

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