Brian Wilson
There are approximately 2,889 people named Brian Wilson living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 118,641 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Brian with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Wilson. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
2,889
1 in 118,641
Named Brian
1.1M
Alive today
Named Wilson
932K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.1M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1972
Average age: 48
Estimated bearers: 932K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #14
Per 100K: 271.84
Top ancestry: White (67.4%)
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
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Wilson surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Wilson, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 67.4%.
- White67.4%
- Black or African American26.0%
- Hispanic or Latino2.6%
- Two or more races2.4%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
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).
The surname Wilson appears at a rate of 271.84 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.2718%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 2,889 people with the full name Brian Wilson. 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 Wilson
FAQ
Brian Wilson: questions and answers
How many people are named Brian Wilson?
We estimate approximately 2,889 people in the United States share the full name Brian Wilson. That works out to about 1 in 118,641 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.3100%) with the surname frequency (271.84 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Brian Wilson?
We classify Brian Wilson as "Rare". About 1 in 118,641 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 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.