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Briar

#400 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Briar

Briar has been given to 13,349 babies in the U.S. since 1972. In 2025 it ranked #400 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 778 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 52% girls, 48% boys all-time.

Babies named Briar, 2025

1 in 4,260

Briar over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Briar over time

In 2025, Briar went to 66% girls and 34% boys.

19712025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Briar: meaning, origin, and history

Briar

English

What Briar means

Briar means “briar”, associated with brere.

Origin, language, and formation

Briar is used in English. Its origins include English.

Briar comes through Middle English brere.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,002 girls were recorded with the name Briar between 1972 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 778 in 2025; its best national rank was #400 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #567 in 2020 to #400 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #836 in 2015 to #400 in 2025.

In the United States, 6,347 boys were recorded with the name Briar between 1971 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 405 in 2023; its best national rank was #671 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #757 in 2020 to #686 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,006 in 2015 to #686 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Briar?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 4,260
778 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 2,070
0.05% of girls
Rank, 2025
#400
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
2,955 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Briar sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1002%
School of 50011%

Put another way: gather 2,955 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Briar. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Briars were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Briar was born before 2020 — so the typical Briar is around 5 today.

Median birth year
2020
About 5 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
51.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
94.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
7,002
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 51.6% of all recorded uses (3,612).

Is Briar rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+122
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+167
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+436
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.32×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (778)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#400
2025

Spellings of Briar

Briar is not the most common spelling — Briana is, with 34.9% against Briar's 2.5%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Briar is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Briar was most concentrated in North Dakota — about 1 in 342 girls, against 1 in 2,667 across all states with data. It was least common in Nevada (1 in 16,667).

6292 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1North Dakota1 in 342
  2. 2South Dakota1 in 469
  3. 3Montana1 in 472
  4. 4Iowa1 in 671
  5. 5Nebraska1 in 709
  6. 6Kansas1 in 877
  7. 7Wyoming1 in 926
  8. 8Oklahoma1 in 952

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Briar is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 94% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Where Briar is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Briar was most concentrated in West Virginia — about 1 in 699 boys, against 1 in 4,842 across all states with data. It was least common in Arizona (1 in 50,000).

2143 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1West Virginia1 in 699
  2. 2Arkansas1 in 1,250
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 1,493
  4. 4North Dakota1 in 1,587
  5. 5Oklahoma1 in 1,667
  6. 6Missouri1 in 1,786
  7. 7Iowa1 in 2,000
  8. 8Indiana1 in 2,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Briar around the world

Where Briar ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,271
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2016–2025
    #324
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #265
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1944–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Briar

People whose public names include Briar, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Briar by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#400
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 167
Best rank ever
#400
2025
Peak year
2025
778 that year
First recorded
1972
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,002
Count in 2025
778

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#686
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 71
Best rank ever
#671
2023
Peak year
2023
405 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,347
Count in 2025
397

Names similar to Briar

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

BrisaBrileyBrigidBrittaBrieBritanyBriaBrinaBrissaBrizaBrianBrionnaBrindaBristolBritnyBrittBrinleyBriahBriellaBrielBrinleeBrileeBrinnBrigette

Names with a curve like Briar

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Briar, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

EverleeReignAriCalliopeEmberlyLegacyRominaEmerieMonroeAmaiaKalaniElodie

Sibling names for Briar

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Briar

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