Irish origin
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A name. A world of connections.
A name with a story to discover
No sourced pronunciation yet
01 / Meaning & origin
Brien is a masculine given name.
No etymology is recorded in our sources for this spelling yet. The record exists because the name is documented in use; a meaning will be shown only once a cited source supports it.
02 / Across borders
Explore official naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.
The name atlas
4
countries in our sources
Select a country to follow Brien’s connections around the world.
4 countries with official statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.
Selected country
Official statistics
United States, 2025: 7 boys (rank 9714).
Explore United States4 of 4 countries
03 / By the numbers
Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.
1880–2025 Spelling: Brien
Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.
Source: US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
Integer application counts retained without rounding.
Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.
| Year | Applications | Rank | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1881 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1882 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1883 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1884 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1885 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1886 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1887 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1888 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1889 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1890 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1891 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1892 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1893 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1894 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1895 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1896 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1897 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1898 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1899 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1900 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1901 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1902 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1903 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1904 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1905 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1906 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1907 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1908 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1909 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1910 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1911 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1912 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1913 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1914 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1915 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1916 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1917 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1918 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1919 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1920 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1921 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1922 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1923 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1924 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1925 | 5 | 4,197 | observed |
| 1926 | 5 | 4,201 | observed |
| 1927 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1928 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1929 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1930 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1931 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1932 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1933 | 7 | 3,004 | observed |
| 1934 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1935 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1936 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1937 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1938 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1939 | 11 | 2,159 | observed |
| 1940 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 1941 | 7 | 2,872 | observed |
| 1942 | 10 | 2,386 | observed |
| 1943 | 7 | 2,964 | observed |
| 1944 | 13 | 1,988 | observed |
| 1945 | 13 | 1,926 | observed |
| 1946 | 17 | 1,759 | observed |
| 1947 | 17 | 1,850 | observed |
| 1948 | 14 | 2,027 | observed |
| 1949 | 25 | 1,462 | observed |
| 1950 | 27 | 1,395 | observed |
| 1951 | 26 | 1,462 | observed |
| 1952 | 40 | 1,166 | observed |
| 1953 | 34 | 1,280 | observed |
| 1954 | 40 | 1,186 | observed |
| 1955 | 41 | 1,167 | observed |
| 1956 | 53 | 1,032 | observed |
| 1957 | 69 | 913 | observed |
| 1958 | 72 | 889 | observed |
| 1959 | 76 | 875 | observed |
| 1960 | 71 | 897 | observed |
| 1961 | 93 | 790 | observed |
| 1962 | 71 | 902 | observed |
| 1963 | 99 | 766 | observed |
| 1964 | 82 | 839 | observed |
| 1965 | 70 | 873 | observed |
| 1966 | 85 | 785 | observed |
| 1967 | 89 | 774 | observed |
| 1968 | 89 | 784 | observed |
| 1969 | 97 | 782 | observed |
| 1970 | 84 | 881 | observed |
| 1971 | 87 | 873 | observed |
| 1972 | 69 | 976 | observed |
| 1973 | 81 | 885 | observed |
| 1974 | 69 | 988 | observed |
| 1975 | 68 | 994 | observed |
| 1976 | 57 | 1,123 | observed |
| 1977 | 47 | 1,312 | observed |
| 1978 | 66 | 1,066 | observed |
| 1979 | 61 | 1,154 | observed |
| 1980 | 74 | 1,047 | observed |
| 1981 | 69 | 1,095 | observed |
| 1982 | 61 | 1,179 | observed |
| 1983 | 65 | 1,107 | observed |
| 1984 | 50 | 1,320 | observed |
| 1985 | 68 | 1,125 | observed |
| 1986 | 48 | 1,439 | observed |
| 1987 | 48 | 1,484 | observed |
| 1988 | 61 | 1,319 | observed |
| 1989 | 57 | 1,452 | observed |
| 1990 | 52 | 1,587 | observed |
| 1991 | 41 | 1,895 | observed |
| 1992 | 62 | 1,472 | observed |
| 1993 | 40 | 2,007 | observed |
| 1994 | 54 | 1,664 | observed |
| 1995 | 48 | 1,801 | observed |
| 1996 | 44 | 1,986 | observed |
| 1997 | 46 | 1,964 | observed |
| 1998 | 25 | 3,092 | observed |
| 1999 | 49 | 1,966 | observed |
| 2000 | 30 | 2,922 | observed |
| 2001 | 25 | 3,410 | observed |
| 2002 | 36 | 2,632 | observed |
| 2003 | 33 | 2,922 | observed |
| 2004 | 23 | 3,860 | observed |
| 2005 | 27 | 3,528 | observed |
| 2006 | 24 | 4,001 | observed |
| 2007 | 23 | 4,243 | observed |
| 2008 | 11 | 7,187 | observed |
| 2009 | 13 | 6,436 | observed |
| 2010 | 12 | 6,698 | observed |
| 2011 | 9 | 8,079 | observed |
| 2012 | 13 | 6,306 | observed |
| 2013 | 13 | 6,241 | observed |
| 2014 | 6 | 10,717 | observed |
| 2015 | 9 | 8,040 | observed |
| 2016 | 7 | 9,664 | observed |
| 2017 | 12 | 6,685 | observed |
| 2018 | 11 | 7,136 | observed |
| 2019 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 2020 | 7 | 9,554 | observed |
| 2021 | 5 | 12,146 | observed |
| 2022 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 2023 | no value | no value | not covered |
| 2024 | 6 | 10,938 | observed |
| 2025 | 7 | 9,714 | observed |
Statistics count the spelling “Brien” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure applications. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.
Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.
Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC0-1.0
Read our methodology04 / Through time
Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.
Brien— “strength”
Brien was always a favourite in Brittany, and is very common as a surname with the peasantry there. The Bretons, who joined in the Norman conquest, imported it to England. Two landholders, so called, are recorded in Domesday Book; and during the first century of Norman rule it was far more common than at present, when it is considered as almost exclusively Irish. Some of our older etymologists have been beguiled into deriving it from the French _bruyant_, noisy.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part V, Chapter II (Ancient Keltic Names), Section III (Bri) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)
A little story to keep
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06 / Behind the facts
Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Ontario top baby names, historical archive 1917–2013
Government of Ontario (Office of the Registrar General) · OGL-ON-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Ontario first baby names, 1913–2023 (verified redistribution)
Government of Ontario; redistributed by helloharun · OGL-ON-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025
Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.