Brianne
A feminine name of Celtic origin meaning "strong, virtuous, honorable".
Name Census estimates that about 19,553 living Americans carry the first name Brianne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brianne today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brianne births was 1979 (1,671 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brianne. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Brianne with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
20K
~ 1 in 17,530 Americans
Peak year
1979
1,671 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1989 SSA rank
#4,197
Tracked since 1947
Census
Brianne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 18,370 people with the first name Brianne, which placed it at #1,687 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,687
National first-name rank
People counted
18K
18,370 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brianne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brianne is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and Black (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Brianne described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Brianne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.9% · 14,679
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 1,336
- Black or African American5.7% · 1,048
- Two or more races4.5% · 826
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 348
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 133
Gender
Gender distribution for Brianne
Out of the 20,482 babies given the name Brianne since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Brianne as a male name
- Ranked #8,046 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1979 (9 births)
Brianne as a female name
- Ranked #4,197 in 2024
- 34 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (1,662 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brianne appears almost entirely female. Of the 18,375 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Brianne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brianne from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 8,124 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brianne by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Brianne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Briannes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Brianne, while Mississippi, Delaware, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 375 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brianne
The name Brianne has its origins in the Celtic languages, particularly the Breton and Welsh languages spoken in the regions of Brittany and Wales, respectively. It is a feminine form of the name Brian, which is derived from the Old Celtic word "bri," meaning "high" or "noble."
The earliest known record of the name Brianne dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th century. It was particularly popular in Brittany, where it was often used as a variant of the name Brienne. During this time, the name may have been associated with the nobility or upper classes due to its etymological meaning of "high" or "noble."
In ancient texts and historical records, the name Brianne is relatively scarce. However, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances is Brianne de Montfort, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and was a member of the influential Montfort family.
Another notable figure was Brianne de Châtillon, a French aristocrat and courtier who lived during the reign of King Louis IX in the 13th century. She was known for her involvement in the Seventh Crusade and her role as a lady-in-waiting to the queen.
In the 16th century, Brianne de Lautrec was a French noblewoman and the wife of Count Odet de Foix, a prominent military commander during the Italian Wars. She played an important role in the management of her husband's estates and lands.
During the 17th century, Brianne de Montmorency was a French aristocrat and the daughter of Henri de Montmorency, a prominent military leader and member of the nobility. She was known for her involvement in the French Wars of Religion and her support for the Catholic cause.
In the 19th century, Brianne de Belleville was a French author and poet who gained recognition for her works exploring themes of love, nature, and spirituality. She was part of the Romantic literary movement and collaborated with notable writers of her time.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Brianne, showcasing its presence and usage throughout various periods and regions, particularly in France and areas influenced by Celtic culture.
People
Brianne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brianne as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Brianne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brianne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,553 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brianne going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 17,530 US residents.
Is Brianne a common name?
We classify Brianne as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,482 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brianne most popular?
The single biggest year for Brianne was 1979, when 1,671 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brianne is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brianne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 18,370 people with the name Brianne, or 6.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,687 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Brianne in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Brianne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brianne appears almost entirely female. Of the 18,375 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Brianne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brianne is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and Black (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Brianne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brianne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (14,679 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Brianne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brianne a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Brianne in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Brianne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brianne in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Brianne can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Brianne as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Brianne, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.