Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Brian?
Births per year, rank history and how many Brians are alive today.
Brian (male), once a common boys' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 573rd in 2025 with 68 given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1934, when around 12,600 babies were given the name, the 4th most popular that year. It has declined since 1934; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. Numbers have been stable in recent years. At least 340,000 babies have been named Brian in England and Wales since 1924. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Brian is one spelling of a name also recorded as Bryan; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Brian you are most likely to meet is around 81 years old. Half of all Brians born in England and Wales are between 62 and 84, and there are at least 200,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 48% chance that at least one of them will be called Brian.
How many babies are named Brian each year?
Includes all spellings: Brian, Bryan. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Brian spelling rank?
Where does the Bryan spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Brian most popular?
Brian peaked in 1934, when around 12,600 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Brian?
At least 200,000 people named Brian in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Brian?
Most living Brians are between 62 and 84; the most common age is about 81.
Is Brian becoming more or less popular?
Well past its peak: today's figures are a fraction of the 1934 peak, though numbers have levelled off in recent years.