How Many People Are Named Brian?
An estimated 1,062,624 people in the United States have the first name Brian, ranking it #23 among all first names. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 48 years old, and Brian peaked in popularity in 1972 with 36,480 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Jessica (995,433).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Brian as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Brian paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Brian is overwhelmingly male, 4,563 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Brian has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
1,062,624
About 1 in 323 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Common
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
48
years old
Peak Year
1972
36,480 births
Total Registered
1,177,325
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Brian
Brian is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 1,177,325 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Brian as a male name
Ranked #301 in 2024
1,111 male births in 2024
Peak: 1972 (36,309 births)
Brian as a female name
Ranked #16,906 in 2015
5 female births in 2015
Peak: 1977 (181 births)
Brian: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Brian span from the 1900s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1970s, when 324,277 babies were registered. Brian has declined significantly from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Brian by Decade
How has Brian tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 116 | 116 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 566 | 566 | 0 | |
| 1930s | 3,173 | 3,173 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 22,841 | 22,794 | 47 | |
| 1950s | 112,529 | 112,336 | 193 | |
| 1960s | 258,888 | 258,119 | 769 | |
| 1970s | 324,277 | 322,694 | 1,583 | |
| 1980s | 235,365 | 233,997 | 1,368 | |
| 1990s | 119,675 | 119,303 | 372 | |
| 2000s | 69,968 | 69,771 | 197 | |
| 2010s | 24,134 | 24,100 | 34 | |
| 2020s | 5,788 | 5,788 | 0 | |
Brian by State
Birth registrations for Brian span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont. On average, about 23,011 Brians were registered per state.
Brian + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Brian as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Brian
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Brian: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brian?
We estimate approximately 1,062,624 people named Brian are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 323 Americans share this first name.
Is Brian a common name?
Brian is classified as "Very Common" and is more popular than 100% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,177,325 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Brian most popular?
Brian reached peak popularity in 1972, when 36,480 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Brian is approximately 48 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Brian a male name?
Brian is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Brian Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Brian Smith, Brian Johnson, Brian Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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