Browning

Boys' name

Brown

Browning has been given to 69 babies in the U.S. since 1994. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2013, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Browning, 2019

1 in 496,000

Browning over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Browning: meaning, origin, and history

Brown

surname transfer

What Browning means

Browning means “brown”, associated with Brūn.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old English Brūning, a patronymic for a person nicknamed Brūn (“brown”) (see Brown). For the first half-century of their manufacturer, the majority of semi-automatic handguns in Europe were designed by John M. Browning.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Browning (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Browning is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Browning comes through Old English Brūning.

Browning is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Browning is pronounced /ˈbɹaʊnɪŋ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 69 boys were recorded with the name Browning between 1994 and 2019. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2013; its best national rank was #7,093 in 2013.

How common is Browning?

Browning had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2019, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2019: 1 in 496,000; 7 of 3,472,229 births
Among boys only: 1 in 256,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2019: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 343,825 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Browning sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2019 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 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 343,825 children born in 2019 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Browning. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Brownings were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Browning was born before 2013 — so the typical Browning is around 12 today.

Median birth year: 2013; About 12 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 85.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 92.8%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 69; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 85.5% of all recorded uses (59).

Is Browning 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2013 (11)
Years since peak: 12; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 33.9% average annual change
Best rank ever: #7,093; 2013

Spellings of Browning

Browning is not the most common spelling — Brownie is, with 88.0% against Browning's 12.0%.

Brownie88.0%504
Browning12.0%69

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.

Browning by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #7,093; 2013
Peak year: 2013; 11 that year
First recorded: 1994
Last recorded: 2019
All-time count: 69
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Browning

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

Brookson Bronxton Charming Brookston Bronxx Brondon Bronze Broughton Bronco Broderic Bronsyn Brodric Broghan Brookes Broward Sirking Amazing Brownlow Broedy Brockman Brooklynn Brooker Brodan Bronsen

Sibling names for Browning

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

For a sister

Alyvia Gwyneth Sofie Honesty Aubri Kaelynn Kendyl Elayna

For a brother

Gibson Tobin Jaxen Arian Jai Vihaan Konnor Landry

Explore around Browning

Top names of 2013, Browning's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 2013 Boys' names starting with B