Brown
A gender-neutral name referencing the rich, earthy color.
Name Census estimates that about 341 living Americans carry the first name Brown. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brown today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brown births was 1918 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brown. 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
- • The typical person named Brown is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Browns were born before 1970.
People living today
341
~ 1 in 1,005,145 Americans
Peak year
1918
55 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,349
Tracked since 1881
Census
Brown in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,499 people with the first name Brown, which placed it at #9,313 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
#9,313
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,499 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brown
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brown is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Black (39.2%) and Hispanic (7.1%). 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 Brown 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 Brown at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.0% · 690
- Black or African American39.2% · 588
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 107
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 60
- Two or more races2.4% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Brown
Out of the 1,472 babies given the name Brown since 1880, 99.7% 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.
Brown as a male name
- Ranked #8,349 in 2023
- 9 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1918 (55 births)
Brown as a female name
- Ranked #10,459 in 1983
- 5 female births in 1983
- Peak: 1983 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Brown on both sides of the split. Of the 1,497 people counted with this name, 1,009 were male (67.4%) and 488 were female (32.6%).
Popularity
Brown: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brown from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 320 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brown 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 Brown during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Browns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia recorded the most babies named Brown, while Arkansas, Virginia, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brown
The given name Brown is an English name derived from the Old English word "brun", meaning "brown" or "dusky". This name has its origins in the medieval period, when it was used to describe a person's physical appearance, specifically referring to their brown hair or complexion.
The earliest recorded use of Brown as a given name dates back to the 13th century. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was John Brown, a English monk and chronicler who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He is best known for his work, the "Chronica Monasterii de Bello", which documented the history of the Battle Abbey in Sussex, England.
Another notable figure with the name Brown was Robert Brown, a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist who lived from 1773 to 1858. He is renowned for his contributions to plant taxonomy and the discovery of the cell nucleus, earning him the title "the Father of Microscopical Observation".
In the realm of literature, Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) was an American novelist and historian, often regarded as the first professional American writer of fiction. His works, such as "Wieland" and "Arthur Mervyn", played a significant role in shaping the early American literary tradition.
The name Brown also has a notable presence in the world of politics. John Brown (1800-1859) was an American abolitionist who became famous for his raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, an event that is widely regarded as a catalyst for the American Civil War.
Another influential figure bearing this name was James Brown (1933-2006), an American singer, songwriter, and dancer widely recognized as the "Godfather of Soul". His dynamic stage presence, innovative music, and influential style have left an indelible mark on the music industry and popular culture.
These examples illustrate the diverse and rich history associated with the given name Brown, spanning various fields and time periods, from medieval monks and botanists to literary pioneers, political activists, and iconic musicians.
People
Brown + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brown 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
Brown: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brown?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brown 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 1,005,145 US residents.
Is Brown a common name?
We classify Brown as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,472 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brown most popular?
The single biggest year for Brown was 1918, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brown is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brown in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,499 people with the name Brown, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,313 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 Brown 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 Brown?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Brown on both sides of the split. Of the 1,497 people counted with this name, 1,009 were male (67.4%) and 488 were female (32.6%). 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 Brown?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brown is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Black (39.2%) and Hispanic (7.1%). 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 Brown most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brown in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.0% (690 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 Brown in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brown a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Brown 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 Brown still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brown 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 Brown 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 the name Brown?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.