Brain
Last seen for girls in 1985 at #10,677 · Last seen for boys in 2017 at #10,775
Given to boys 99.8% of the time
- Peak · boys
- 1972 · 179 births
- Debut · boys
- 5 births
- In top 100 · boys
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 4,596since 1950
Brain over time
Rank among boys' names. Brain has never cracked the top 500 here.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | — | — | ||
| 2024 | — | — | ||
| 2023 | — | — | ||
| 2022 | — | — | ||
| 2021 | — | — | ||
| 2020 | — | — | ||
| 2019 | — | — | ||
| 2018 | — | — | ||
| 2017 | — | #10,775 | 6 | |
| 2016 | — | #12,185 | 5 | |
| 2015 | — | — | ||
| 2014 | — | — | ||
| 2013 | — | #9,655 | 7 | |
| 2012 | — | #10,770 | 6 | |
| 2011 | — | #9,600 | 7 | |
| 2010 | — | #8,803 | 8 | |
| 2009 | — | #9,864 | 7 | |
| 2008 | — | #6,393 | 13 | |
| 2007 | — | #6,262 | 13 | |
| 2006 | — | #6,094 | 13 | |
| 2005 | — | #3,941 | 23 | |
| 2004 | — | #5,813 | 13 | |
| 2003 | — | #3,280 | 28 | |
| 2002 | — | #3,554 | 24 | |
| 2001 | — | #3,061 | 29 | |
| 2000 | — | #3,075 | 28 | |
| 1999 | — | #3,279 | 24 | |
| 1998 | — | #2,599 | 32 | |
| 1997 | — | #2,981 | 25 | |
| 1996 | — | #2,535 | 30 | |
| 1995 | — | #2,923 | 24 | |
| 1994 | — | #2,082 | 39 | |
| 1993 | — | #1,850 | 45 | |
| 1992 | — | #1,914 | 42 | |
| 1991 | — | #1,254 | 79 | |
| 1990 | — | #1,278 | 75 | |
| 1989 | — | #997 | 105 | |
| 1988 | — | #823 | 132 | |
| 1987 | — | #777 | 140 | |
| 1986 | — | #756 | 143 | |
| 1985 | #10,677 | 5 | #710 | 155 |
| 1984 | — | #733 | 141 | |
| 1983 | — | #624 | 187 | |
| 1982 | — | #632 | 189 | |
| 1981 | — | #679 | 162 | |
| 1980 | — | #651 | 177 | |
| 1979 | — | #675 | 160 | |
| 1978 | — | #697 | 144 | |
| 1977 | #9,652 | 5 | #660 | 163 |
| 1976 | — | #660 | 154 | |
| 1975 | — | #601 | 182 | |
| 1974 | — | #603 | 176 | |
| 1973 | — | #608 | 170 | |
| 1972 | — | #596 | 179 | |
| 1971 | — | #645 | 162 | |
| 1970 | — | #692 | 143 | |
| 1969 | — | #659 | 143 | |
| 1968 | — | #696 | 118 | |
| 1967 | — | #742 | 98 | |
| 1966 | — | #774 | 88 | |
| 1965 | — | #948 | 60 | |
| 1964 | — | #1,082 | 49 | |
| 1963 | — | #1,037 | 53 | |
| 1962 | — | #1,187 | 43 | |
| 1961 | — | #1,467 | 30 | |
| 1960 | — | #1,692 | 23 | |
| 1959 | — | #1,559 | 26 | |
| 1958 | — | #1,766 | 20 | |
| 1957 | — | #1,952 | 17 | |
| 1956 | — | #2,798 | 9 | |
| 1955 | — | #3,886 | 5 | |
| 1954 | — | — | ||
| 1953 | — | — | ||
| 1952 | — | — | ||
| 1951 | — | — | ||
| 1950 | — | #3,681 | 5 | |
| 1949 | — | — | ||
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| 1881 | — | — | ||
| 1880 | — | — | ||
The first year at least five boys were named Brain! It came in at #3,681, and was given to 5 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1950–1955, when fewer than 6 boys a year got the name.
Where Brain is popular in 1972
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- Colorado#340 · 1 in 3,018
- Massachusetts#386 · 1 in 7,533
- Alabama#409 · 1 in 4,606
- Louisiana#441 · 1 in 3,905
- Georgia#445 · 1 in 5,066
Best ever in a state: #290 in Minnesota, 1976.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | #340 | 6 | 1 in 3,018 |
| Massachusetts | #386 | 5 | 1 in 7,533 |
| Alabama | #409 | 6 | 1 in 4,606 |
| Louisiana | #441 | 8 | 1 in 3,905 |
| Georgia | #445 | 8 | 1 in 5,066 |
| Indiana | #448 | 6 | 1 in 6,939 |
| Tennessee | #448 | 5 | 1 in 6,424 |
| Pennsylvania | #471 | 9 | 1 in 8,796 |
| North Carolina | #485 | 6 | 1 in 6,934 |
| Illinois | #506 | 13 | 1 in 6,364 |
| Ohio | #523 | 8 | 1 in 10,172 |
| Michigan | #595 | 6 | 1 in 11,483 |
| Florida | #596 | 6 | 1 in 8,415 |
| California | #624 | 16 | 1 in 9,384 |
| Texas | #733 | 10 | 1 in 10,640 |
| New York | #853 | 7 | 1 in 17,411 |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arizona | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
| Delaware | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — |
| Idaho | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — |
| Kansas | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | — | — | — |
| Maine | — | — | — |
| Maryland | — | — | — |
| Minnesota | — | — | — |
| Mississippi | — | — | — |
| Missouri | — | — | — |
| Montana | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | — | — | — |
| Nevada | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | — | — | — |
| New Jersey | — | — | — |
| New Mexico | — | — | — |
| North Dakota | — | — | — |
| Oklahoma | — | — | — |
| Oregon | — | — | — |
| Rhode Island | — | — | — |
| South Carolina | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | — | — | — |
| Utah | — | — | — |
| Vermont | — | — | — |
| Virginia | — | — | — |
| Washington | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Brain
- Not published in 2025; last seen 2017
- Biggest jump: 174 spots in 1966 (#948 → #774)
- Biggest drop: 281 spots in 1990 (#997 → #1,278)
- Debuted 1950
- Peaked 1972 at #596 (179 births)
- Births halved by 1990, 18 yrs later
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 25 yrs · run 1965–1989
- Highest: 1 in 8,579 boys born in 1975 were named Brain (0.01%)
- Latest: 1 in 308,493 boys born in 2017 (0.00%)
- Its best rank, #596 in 1972, was only 1 in 9,059 (0.01%) — a smaller share of a much bigger birth year
- 35.5% of all boys named Brain (1,633) were born in this decade
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 82 | #1,559 (1959) | #2,607 |
| 1960s | 705 | #659 (1969) | #1,028 |
| 1970s | 1,633 | #596 (1972) | #644 |
| 1980s | 1,531 | #624 (1983) | #738 |
| 1990s | 415 | #1,254 (1991) | #2,270 |
| 2000s | 191 | #3,061 (2001) | #5,134 |
| 2010s | 39 | #8,803 (2010) | #10,298 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Brain in 1972
Top boys' names in 1972
More about 1972
boys
1,621,608 boys got a published name in 1972; 1 in 9,059 of them was named Brain, which outranked 89.6% of the 5,751 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 26.5% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).