Bryon
Of Irish origin, meaning "great valor" or "descendant of the poet".
Name Census estimates that about 13,194 living Americans carry the first name Bryon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bryon today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bryon births was 1970 (451 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bryon. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bryon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 25,978 Americans
Peak year
1970
451 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,681
Tracked since 1897
Census
Bryon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,093 people with the first name Bryon, which placed it at #2,313 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
#2,313
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
11,093 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bryon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bryon is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Bryon 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 Bryon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.3% · 8,247
- Black or African American13.5% · 1,495
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 641
- Two or more races4.0% · 440
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 149
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 121
Gender
Gender distribution for Bryon
Out of the 14,720 babies given the name Bryon 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.
Bryon as a male name
- Ranked #5,681 in 2024
- 16 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (451 births)
Bryon as a female name
- Ranked #10,874 in 1985
- 5 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1983 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bryon appears almost entirely male. Of the 11,087 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Bryon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bryon from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 3,772 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
Bryon 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 Bryon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bryons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Bryon, while Wyoming, Maine, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 251 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bryon
The given name Bryon has its roots in the ancient Celtic culture, originating from the Brittonic language branch of the Celtic linguistic family. It is believed to be derived from the Proto-Celtic word "*brogno-," which means "territory" or "district." This name was particularly prevalent among the Britons, a Celtic people who inhabited what is now Great Britain.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Brogno" or "Brogyn," reflecting the Proto-Celtic root. As the language evolved, the spelling gradually changed to the more modern form, "Bryon." The name's transition from "Brogno" to "Bryon" was influenced by the linguistic shifts and sound changes that occurred over centuries within the Celtic languages.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Bryon can be traced back to the 6th century AD, when a Welsh chieftain named Bryon ap Cennyd was documented in historical records. This early reference underscores the name's deep roots in the Celtic culture and its enduring popularity over the centuries.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bryon. In the 12th century, Bryon de Tors was a prominent Norman nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the Norman conquest of England. Another historical figure was Bryon the Red, a 14th-century Scottish warrior and clan chief known for his bravery in battles against the English.
During the Renaissance period, the name Bryon gained literary prominence through the works of the English poet and satirist, Bryon Beaumont (1584-1616). His witty and biting verses earned him a reputation as one of the most accomplished satirists of his time.
In the 18th century, Bryon Dalrymple (1703-1786) was a Scottish lawyer and judge who served as Lord Advocate of Scotland and later became a Lord of Session. His legal expertise and contributions to Scottish jurisprudence made him a prominent figure in the country's judicial system.
Another notable individual with the name Bryon was the 19th-century British explorer and naturalist, Bryon Saunders (1808-1888). He embarked on numerous expeditions to Africa and the Middle East, making significant contributions to the fields of geography, botany, and zoology.
These examples illustrate the enduring presence of the name Bryon throughout various eras and across different cultures, reflecting its rich historical significance and cultural resonance.
People
Bryon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bryon 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
Bryon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bryon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bryon 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 25,978 US residents.
Is Bryon a common name?
We classify Bryon as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,720 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bryon most popular?
The single biggest year for Bryon was 1970, when 451 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bryon 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 Bryon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,093 people with the name Bryon, or 3.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,313 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 Bryon 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 Bryon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bryon appears almost entirely male. Of the 11,087 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bryon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bryon is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Bryon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bryon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (8,247 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 Bryon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bryon a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Bryon 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 Bryon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bryon 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 Bryon 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 Bryon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.