Brian Name Popularity

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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.

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for Percentages.

		Brian (Girl)		Brian (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. 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	--
1904		< 5	--	< 5	--
1903		< 5	--	< 5	--
1902		< 5	--	< 5	--
1901		< 5	--	< 5	--
1900		< 5	--	< 5	--
1899		< 5	--	< 5	--
1898		< 5	--	< 5	--
1897		< 5	--	< 5	--
1896		< 5	--	< 5	--
1895		< 5	--	< 5	--
1894		< 5	--	< 5	--
1893		< 5	--	< 5	--
1892		< 5	--	< 5	--
1891		< 5	--	< 5	--
1890		< 5	--	< 5	--
1889		< 5	--	< 5	--
1888		< 5	--	< 5	--
1887		< 5	--	< 5	--
1886		< 5	--	< 5	--
1885		< 5	--	< 5	--
1884		< 5	--	< 5	--
1883		< 5	--	< 5	--
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.