Roy Brown
There are approximately 860 people named Roy Brown living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 398,552 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Roy with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Brown. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
860
1 in 398,552
Named Roy
185K
Alive today
Named Brown
1.6M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 185K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 63
Top Census group: White (71.2%)
Estimated bearers: 1.6M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #4
Per 100K: 463.73
Top ancestry: White (55.4%)
First name trend
Roy: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Roy. The peak year was 1947 with 7,592 births. The average person named Roy today is 63 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roy
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Roy, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 71.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Roy 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 Roy at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White71.2% · 125,463
- Black or African American12.7% · 22,334
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 14,901
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 6,755
- Two or more races2.8% · 4,902
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1,806
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Brown surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Brown, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 55.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Brown 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 Brown at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White55.4% · 768,332
- Black or African American34.7% · 480,749
- Two or more races4.8% · 66,938
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 49,166
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 11,738
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 9,160
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Roy has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0541% of the US population, based on 185,404 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 Roy right now.
The surname Brown appears at a rate of 463.73 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.4637%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 860 people with the full name Roy Brown. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Roy
Related
Other people with the surname Brown
FAQ
Roy Brown: questions and answers
How many people are named Roy Brown?
We estimate approximately 860 people in the United States share the full name Roy Brown. That works out to about 1 in 398,552 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0541%) with the surname frequency (463.73 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Roy Brown?
We classify Roy Brown as "Very Rare". About 1 in 398,552 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Roy a male or female name?
Roy is predominantly male. Out of 410,743 total SSA registrations, 99.3% were male and 0.7% were female. See the full Roy 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 are named Roy Brown?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the name Roy Brown is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.