US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
Brian: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Brian for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Brian was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 13 years, between 1967 and 1979, reaching #8. Births peaked in 1972, when 36,306 baby boys were named Brian, so by peak year it is a Generation X name.
Brian in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Brian (1972).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Generation X | 13 (1967–1979) | #8 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Brian most popular?
By number of babies, in 1972, when 36,306 boys were given the name. By rank, it reached #8 and spent 13 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Brian?
Its peak year, 1972, falls in Generation X (1965–1980). Its 13 top-10 years fall in: Generation X (13).
How many people have been named Brian?
SSA counted 1,173,735 boys named Brian born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Brian are alive today.