Brion
Celtic name meaning either "a hill" or "the son of wisdom".
Name Census estimates that about 2,607 living Americans carry the first name Brion. It is a predominantly male name (96.9% of registrations). The average person named Brion today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brion births was 1957 (87 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brion. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Brion is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 89 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 131,475 Americans
Peak year
1957
87 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,253
Tracked since 1945
Census
Brion in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,274 people with the first name Brion, which placed it at #6,888 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
#6,888
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,274 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brion
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brion is White at 59.1%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Brion 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 Brion at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.1% · 1,345
- Black or African American31.8% · 724
- Two or more races3.8% · 87
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 76
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Brion
Brion leans heavily male at 96.9% of total registrations, but 89 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brion as a male name
- Ranked #5,253 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (87 births)
Brion as a female name
- Ranked #16,114 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1994 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brion leans strongly male. 2,162 people counted with this name were male (95.0%), compared with 113 female bearers (5.0%).
Popularity
Brion: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brion from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 612 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brion 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 Brion during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brions live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Brion, while Virginia, North Carolina, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brion
The name Brion has its origins in the Breton language, spoken in the region of Brittany in northwestern France. It is derived from the Celtic root "bri," which means "hill" or "elevated place." This root is also found in the names Brian and Brynn.
In ancient times, the name Brion likely referred to someone who lived on or near a hill or elevated area. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the Middle Ages, when it was primarily used in Brittany and the surrounding regions.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Brion was Brion de Bourdeilles, a French soldier and writer who lived in the 16th century. He is best known for his memoir "La vie des dames galantes," which provided a glimpse into the lives of courtesans and noble women in Renaissance France.
Another notable figure was Brion Gysin, an English painter, writer, and performer who lived from 1916 to 1986. He is widely regarded as one of the key figures in the Beat Generation and is credited with popularizing the cut-up writing technique, which influenced authors like William S. Burroughs.
In the world of sports, Brion Tolver was a professional American football player who played as a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) from 1974 to 1977. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brion James, an American actor born in 1945, had a successful career in film and television, appearing in movies like "Blade Runner," "The Player," and "The Hills Have Eyes." He was known for his versatility in playing both leading and supporting roles, often portraying villains or antagonists.
Finally, Brion Sisco was an American musician and songwriter who lived from 1943 to 2022. He was a founding member of the rock band Canned Heat and co-wrote several of their hits, including "Going Up the Country" and "On the Road Again."
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Brion, showcasing its longevity and diverse cultural backgrounds.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Brion
People
Brion + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brion 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
Brion: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brion?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,607 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brion 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 131,475 US residents.
Is Brion a common name?
We classify Brion as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,887 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brion most popular?
The single biggest year for Brion was 1957, when 87 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brion is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brion in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,274 people with the name Brion, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,888 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 Brion 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 Brion?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brion leans strongly male. 2,162 people counted with this name were male (95.0%), compared with 113 female bearers (5.0%). 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 Brion?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brion is White at 59.1%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Brion most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brion in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.1% (1,345 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 Brion in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brion a male name?
Yes, 96.9% of people registered as Brion 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 Brion still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brion 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 Brion 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 are called Brion?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.