Brien
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "hill" or "high".
Name Census estimates that about 3,181 living Americans carry the first name Brien. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brien today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brien births was 1963 (100 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brien. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 107,750 Americans
Peak year
1963
100 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,452
Tracked since 1925
Census
Brien in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,887 people with the first name Brien, which placed it at #5,772 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,772
National first-name rank
People counted
2.9K
2,887 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brien
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brien is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Hispanic (5.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Brien described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Brien at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.5% · 2,265
- Black or African American10.6% · 307
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 158
- Two or more races3.3% · 95
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Brien
Out of the 3,586 babies given the name Brien since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Brien as a male name
- Ranked #11,107 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1963 (100 births)
Brien as a female name
- Ranked #10,452 in 1983
- 5 female births in 1983
- Peak: 1983 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brien leans strongly male. 2,839 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 50 female bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Brien: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brien from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 847 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brien by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Brien during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Briens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Brien, while Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brien
The name Brien has its origins in the Irish Gaelic language, derived from the word "bríghde" or "brígh," meaning strength, vigor, or virtue. It first emerged as a popular name in Ireland during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions like Munster and Connacht.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brien can be found in the Irish Annals, which document a Brien Borumha, also known as Brian Boru, who ruled as the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014 CE. He is celebrated for his victories over Viking invaders and his efforts to unite Ireland under a single throne.
The name Brien also has strong ties to early Irish Christianity. St. Brien, or Bríghid, was a revered 5th-century abbess and patron saint of Ireland, known for her piety and compassion. Many churches and monasteries were dedicated to her, further propagating the name's popularity.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Brien. One of the earliest was Brien O'Brien, a 10th-century King of Munster, who played a pivotal role in the Battle of Clontarf against the Vikings in 1014.
Another prominent figure was Brien Oge O'Rourke, a 16th-century Irish lord who led a rebellion against English rule in Ireland during the Nine Years' War from 1594 to 1603.
In the 18th century, Brien Boroimhe was an Irish harper and composer who helped preserve and promote traditional Irish music during a time of cultural suppression.
Moving to more modern times, Brien McMahon was a prominent American politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut from 1945 to 1952, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission.
Brien Cullen, born in 1968, is an acclaimed Irish author and playwright, known for works such as "The Rathmines Terrace" and "The Ballad of Nell Gunn."
Over the centuries, the name Brien has maintained its strong Irish heritage and associations with strength, virtue, and cultural preservation. While its popularity may have ebbed and flowed, it remains a cherished part of Ireland's rich naming traditions.
People
Brien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brien as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Brien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brien going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 107,750 US residents.
Is Brien a common name?
We classify Brien as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,586 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brien most popular?
The single biggest year for Brien was 1963, when 100 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brien is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brien in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,887 people with the name Brien, or 0.96 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,772 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Brien in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Brien?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brien leans strongly male. 2,839 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 50 female bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Brien?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brien is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Hispanic (5.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Brien most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brien in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (2,265 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Brien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brien a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Brien in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Brien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brien in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Brien can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Brien as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.