Brian Cox
There are approximately 888 people named Brian Cox living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 385,985 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Brian with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Cox. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
888
1 in 385,985
Named Brian
1.1M
Alive today
Named Cox
287K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.1M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1972
Average age: 48
Top Census group: White (80.1%)
Estimated bearers: 287K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #82
Per 100K: 83.60
Top ancestry: White (79.4%)
First name trend
Brian: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Brian. The peak year was 1972 with 36,480 births. The average person named Brian today is 48 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brian
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Brian, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 80.1%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Brian described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Brian at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White80.1% · 810,241
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 80,937
- Black or African American6.1% · 61,348
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 28,600
- Two or more races2.5% · 24,952
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4,937
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Cox surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Cox, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 79.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Cox described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Cox at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White79.4% · 198,513
- Black or African American11.8% · 29,385
- Two or more races4.1% · 10,327
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 8,455
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,630
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1,562
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Brian has a living-bearer frequency of 0.3100% of the US population, based on 1,062,624 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Brian right now.
The surname Cox appears at a rate of 83.60 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0836%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 888 people with the full name Brian Cox. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Brian
Related
Other people with the surname Cox
FAQ
Brian Cox: questions and answers
How many people are named Brian Cox?
We estimate approximately 888 people in the United States share the full name Brian Cox. That works out to about 1 in 385,985 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.3100%) with the surname frequency (83.60 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Brian Cox?
We classify Brian Cox as "Very Rare". About 1 in 385,985 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Brian a male or female name?
Brian is predominantly male. Out of 1,177,325 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Brian profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Brian Cox?
You can see how common the name Brian Cox is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.