John Brown
There are approximately 13,639 people named John Brown living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 25,130 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name John 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
13,639
1 in 25,130
Named John
2.9M
Alive today
Named Brown
1.6M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 2.9M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 57
Top Census group: White (82.9%)
Estimated bearers: 1.6M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #4
Per 100K: 463.73
Top ancestry: White (55.4%)
First name trend
John: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name John. The peak year was 1947 with 88,524 births. The average person named John today is 57 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for John
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name John, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 82.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name John 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 John at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White82.9% · 2,589,589
- Black or African American6.3% · 195,759
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 187,148
- Two or more races2.2% · 69,447
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 67,811
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 15,360
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 John has a living-bearer frequency of 0.8581% of the US population, based on 2,941,241 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 John 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 13,639 people with the full name John 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 John
Related
Other people with the surname Brown
FAQ
John Brown: questions and answers
How many people are named John Brown?
We estimate approximately 13,639 people in the United States share the full name John Brown. That works out to about 1 in 25,130 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.8581%) with the surname frequency (463.73 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name John Brown?
We classify John Brown as "Uncommon". About 1 in 25,130 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is John a male or female name?
John is predominantly male. Out of 5,196,210 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full John 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 Americans are named John Brown?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.