Brian

Boy name

Brian has been given to 1,178,298 babies in the U.S. since 1909. It peaked in 1972 and currently ranks #339 for boys (2025).

Meaning & origin /ˈbɹaɪ.ən/

Borrowed from Irish Brian. Doublet of Brendan.

Origin: Irish

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

1,178,298

Peak year

1972 (36,477 babies)

Rank in 2025

#339 for boys

First recorded

1909

10-year trend

▼ -56%

Gender split

0% girls / 100% boys

Marilyn Manson

American musician (born 1969)

Brian May

British musician (born 1947)

Brian David Josephson

Welsh physicist

Brian Schmidt

American-born Australian astrophysicist

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Brian.

1,057,058 babies since 1880

893,184 babies since 1880

777,605 babies since 1880

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