ninan.org

Brian

Boys' name · Late 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~1,045,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#339 among boys
Births in 2025
979 1,178,298 since 1880
Typical age
49 years, median

Brian popularity over time

Brian rank by birth year, 1909–2025Brian ranked #1,440 in 1909 and #339 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #8, in 1970.#10#100#1,000#339best #8 in 1970192019401960198020002020
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1909–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1972: 36,477 births recorded as Brian. It first clears the SSA reporting threshold in 1909. Across the record, 63 years put Brian in the top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #339 with 979 births. The ten-year change is -56%. Year on year the rank dropped by 37.

Babies named Brian per yearPeaks at 36,477 births in 1972.36,477 in 19720192019401960198020002020
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Brian?

An estimated 1,045,000 living Americans are called Brian. That is out of 1,178,298 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Brian?

Median age among living Brians: 49. Most living bearers were born in the 1970s. By the site’s era rules that makes Brian a late 20th-century perennial name.

Your Brian

Ages of living people named BrianHalf of living Brians are older than 49 and half younger.median 49020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Brian is most common

The name is concentrated in Delaware, at 2.3× the national rate. Rhode Island, Massachusetts and District of Columbia follow.

Where Brian is used more than average5 states use the name Brian more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.7× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: 1.8× the national rateRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: 2.3× the national rateDEMassachusetts: 1.7× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 1.7× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Brian is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Delaware 50 2.3×
Rhode Island 42 1.8×
Massachusetts 361 1.7×
District of Columbia 42 1.7×
New Jersey 502 1.7×

Brian in England and Wales

ONS recorded 68 births named Brian in 2025, ranking it #573.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Brian comes from

Borrowed from Irish Brian. Doublet of Brendan.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Brian

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Brian May British musician 1947 90
Brian Josephson Welsh physicist 1940 77
Brian Schmidt American-born Australian astrophysicist 1967 70
Brian De Palma American filmmaker 1940 68
Brian Eno British musician, music producer, music theorist and visual artist 1948 64
Brian Wilson American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer 1942–2025 63
Brian Kobilka American physiologist 1955 60
Brian Mulroney Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993 1939–2024 59
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 344 in 1936 to 519 in 1937 — 1.5 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/brian.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).