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Brian Name Popularity

    

Charts | Table | About | By Year

How popular is Brian?

The somewhat popular name Brian was the 235th Most Popular Boys Name in the United States in 2018.

This top 250 contender has seen rankings outside of the top 1000.

It reached its highest popularity ranking of #8 for the first time in 1970 and as recently as 1977.

The name was bestowed upon the greatest number of babies in 1972 with 36,322 occurrences.

The least number of children given the name Brian was less than 5, most recently in 1910.

Decidely upward trends in the number of babies given the name Brian occurred roughly during the years 1912-1915, 1917-1920, 1922-1928, and 1930-1972, whereas 1977-1998, and 2002-2017 were years of successive downward movement.

Where is the name Brian popularity headed?

Overall, when compared to its most prominent year, the name's popularity is at a very low point.

Brian's popularity has been spiralling downward for some time. , continuing the trend, the number of children named Brian lately has dropped.

The name Brian is favored by many parents but will probably continue to drift downward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, Brian is much less frequently used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

 
Mouse over or Click for Percentages.
   Brian (Girl)Brian (Boy)
Year %No. of Babies Given NamePopul. RankNo. of Babies Given NamePopul. Rank
2018 < 5 -- 1,618 235
2017 < 5 -- 1,770 216
2016 < 5 -- 1,978 204
2015 5 16,876 2,210 189
2014 < 5 -- 2,529 168
2013 5 16,978 2,642 150
2012 11 9,815 2,815 140
2011 5 17,200 3,241 122
2010 8 12,467 3,764 101
2009 6 15,564 4,653 94
2008 9 11,747 5,257 87
2007 23 5,925 6,073 81
2006 8 12,611 6,508 72
2005 24 5,292 6,918 63
2004 42 3,502 7,330 59
2003 20 5,843 7,672 59
2002 19 5,931 8,082 51
2001 16 6,665 8,301 46
2000 30 4,090 8,957 43
1999 20 5,255 8,807 43
1998 25 4,384 9,143 41
1997 24 4,392 9,732 37
1996 29 3,731 10,471 36
1995 53 2,423 10,987 36
1994 36 3,174 11,643 37
1993 44 2,727 12,544 34
1992 42 2,831 14,104 31
1991 48 2,557 14,912 30
1990 51 2,405 16,928 27
1989 70 1,874 18,100 24
1988 126 1,197 19,529 22
1987 126 1,161 20,353 20
1986 142 1,058 21,027 20
1985 137 1,071 23,061 18
1984 148 975 24,729 17
1983 156 947 26,060 14
1982 147 1,004 25,831 14
1981 145 1,004 26,602 14
1980 173 884 28,722 12
1979 158 930 28,670 10
1978 171 857 29,451 9
1977 181 828 32,502 8
1976 154 873 30,532 8
1975 151 880 30,608 8
1974 138 912 34,460 8
1973 160 821 35,715 8
1972 171 795 36,322 8
1971 150 886 32,637 9
1970 148 892 31,930 8
1969 130 934 31,687 9
1968 105 1,014 29,939 10
1967 104 1,000 28,655 10
1966 89 1,120 27,266 14
1965 71 1,273 24,554 19
1964 63 1,417 24,189 20
1963 55 1,507 24,119 20
1962 60 1,429 23,245 20
1961 40 1,809 22,544 20
1960 52 1,542 21,994 20
1959 39 1,766 20,735 22
1958 39 1,734 19,254 24
1957 26 2,172 17,513 26
1956 20 2,535 14,657 33
1955 23 2,284 10,109 40
1954 12 3,343 8,074 48
1953 10 3,713 6,668 53
1952 13 3,054 5,741 64
1951 8 4,053 5,101 75
1950 5 5,378 4,446 79
1949 6 4,732 3,852 86
1948 6 4,725 3,358 95
1947 12 3,075 3,449 95
1946 8 3,697 2,584 103
1945 5 4,626 1,990 113
1944 < 5 -- 1,953 116
1943 10 3,062 1,950 120
1942 < 5 -- 1,521 139
1941 < 5 -- 1,123 153
1940 < 5 -- 1,010 163
1939 < 5 -- 808 176
1938 < 5 -- 609 204
1937 < 5 -- 519 228
1936 < 5 -- 344 289
1935 < 5 -- 254 347
1934 < 5 -- 187 402
1933 < 5 -- 150 450
1932 < 5 -- 120 536
1931 < 5 -- 95 605
1930 < 5 -- 91 643
1929 < 5 -- 111 559
1928 < 5 -- 105 602
1927 < 5 -- 74 762
1926 < 5 -- 48 995
1925 < 5 -- 59 873
1924 < 5 -- 38 1,171
1923 < 5 -- 35 1,214
1922 < 5 -- 31 1,314
1921 < 5 -- 34 1,253
1920 < 5 -- 31 1,301
1919 < 5 -- 14 2,162
1918 < 5 -- 12 2,415
1917 < 5 -- 14 2,104
1916 < 5 -- 17 1,780
1915 < 5 -- 21 1,510
1914 < 5 -- 11 1,988
1913 < 5 -- 14 1,452
1912 < 5 -- 6 2,312
1911 < 5 -- 7 1,404
1910 < 5 -- < 5 --
1909 < 5 -- 5 1,480
1908 < 5 -- < 5 --
1907 < 5 -- < 5 --
1906 < 5 -- < 5 --
1905 < 5 -- < 5 --
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1900 < 5 -- < 5 --
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1882 < 5 -- < 5 --
1881 < 5 -- < 5 --
1880 < 5 -- < 5 --

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.