Obrien
Of Irish origin, meaning "descendant or child of Brian".
Name Census estimates that about 198 living Americans carry the first name Obrien. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Obrien today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Obrien births was 1991 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Obrien. 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.
People living today
198
~ 1 in 1,731,083 Americans
Peak year
1991
16 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,558
Tracked since 1921
Census
Obrien in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 355 people with the first name Obrien, which placed it at #26,287 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
#26,287
National first-name rank
People counted
355
355 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Obrien
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Obrien is Black at 49.9%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Hispanic (9.3%). 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 Obrien 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 Obrien at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.9% · 177
- White31.3% · 111
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 33
- Two or more races3.4% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 11
Popularity
Obrien: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Obrien from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 66 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
Obrien 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 Obrien during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Obrien
The given name Obrien is derived from the Irish Gaelic Ó Briain, meaning "descendant of Brian". It originated in Ireland and has been used as a personal name for centuries. The name Brian itself is thought to be derived from the Old Celtic word "brig", meaning "high" or "noble".
The earliest recorded instances of the name Obrien can be traced back to the 10th century, when it was borne by several Irish kings and chieftains. One of the most notable figures was Brian Boru, an Irish king who reigned from 976 until his death in 1014. He is renowned for his military victories against the Vikings and for briefly uniting Ireland under his rule.
In the Middle Ages, the name Obrien was prevalent among the Irish nobility and was associated with several powerful families, such as the O'Briens of Thomond and the O'Briens of Aran. These families played significant roles in Irish history, often engaging in conflicts and alliances with other clans and the English crown.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the first name Obrien. One of the earliest was Obrien of Cashel, an Irish king who ruled the Kingdom of Munster in the 5th century. Another was Obrien Garaidh, an Irish chieftain who lived in the 12th century and was known for his involvement in the Norman invasion of Ireland.
In more recent times, Obrien has been used as a first name by several notable figures. For example, Obrien Gunn (1902-1983) was a Scottish artist and sculptor known for his modernist works. Obrien Gamini Canagaratna (1924-2001) was a Sri Lankan politician and government minister who served in various roles from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Obrien Bladen Quin (1877-1964) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Australian Senate. Obrien Kelley (1905-1986) was an American painter and illustrator known for his works depicting rural life in the United States.
Overall, the name Obrien has a rich history rooted in Irish culture and has been borne by individuals of various backgrounds and accomplishments throughout the centuries.
People
Obrien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Obrien as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Obrien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Obrien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Obrien 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 1,731,083 US residents.
Is Obrien a common name?
We classify Obrien as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 209 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Obrien most popular?
The single biggest year for Obrien was 1991, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Obrien is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Obrien in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 355 people with the name Obrien, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,287 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 Obrien 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 Obrien?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Obrien leans strongly male. 312 people counted with this name were male (88.1%), compared with 42 female bearers (11.9%). 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 Obrien?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Obrien is Black at 49.9%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Hispanic (9.3%). 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 Obrien most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Obrien in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.9% (177 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 Obrien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Obrien a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Obrien in the SSA data are male. 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 Obrien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Obrien 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 Obrien 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 Obrien as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Obrien, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.