Bryson
Bryson was given to 2,416 boys in 2025, #152 among boys’ names; 83,525 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 82,100 Americans named Bryson and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 13 years old and half are between 8 and 19.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Bryson by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Bryson mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Bryson is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
/ˈbɹaɪsən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Bryson?
#152 among boys’ names, 2025
Bryson fell from #133 in 2015 to #152 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.6 to 1.4 per 1,000.
4,687 babies in 2017, the peak
Bryson peaked in 2017, when 4,687 babies were given it (4,679 boys, #86 among boys’ names). The 2,416 births of 2025 are 52% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,416 | #152 | 1.4 |
| 2024 | 2,479 | #147 | 1.4 |
| 2023 | 2,449 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | 2,712 | #136 | 1.6 |
| 2021 | 3,097 | #122 | 1.8 |
| 2020 | 3,218 | #115 | 1.9 |
| 2019 | 3,636 | #102 | 2.0 |
| 2018 | 4,225 | #92 | 2.3 |
| 2017 | 4,679 | #86 | 2.5 |
| 2016 | 4,372 | #94 | 2.3 |
Every recorded year (110)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3,115 | #133 | 1.6 |
| 2014 | 3,427 | #115 | 1.8 |
| 2013 | 3,816 | #102 | 2.0 |
| 2012 | 4,042 | #94 | 2.1 |
| 2011 | 3,944 | #97 | 2.1 |
| 2010 | 3,392 | #120 | 1.8 |
| 2009 | 2,611 | #152 | 1.3 |
| 2008 | 2,231 | #178 | 1.1 |
| 2007 | 2,323 | #179 | 1.1 |
| 2006 | 2,315 | #176 | 1.1 |
| 2005 | 1,980 | #195 | 1.0 |
| 2004 | 1,916 | #200 | 1.0 |
| 2003 | 1,658 | #214 | 0.84 |
| 2002 | 1,471 | #229 | 0.76 |
| 2001 | 1,356 | #246 | 0.70 |
| 2000 | 1,206 | #269 | 0.61 |
| 1999 | 1,066 | #277 | 0.56 |
| 1998 | 860 | #321 | 0.45 |
| 1997 | 741 | #345 | 0.39 |
| 1996 | 689 | #353 | 0.36 |
| 1995 | 543 | #418 | 0.29 |
| 1994 | 467 | #468 | 0.24 |
| 1993 | 443 | #476 | 0.23 |
| 1992 | 394 | #510 | 0.20 |
| 1991 | 383 | #506 | 0.19 |
| 1990 | 333 | #551 | 0.16 |
| 1989 | 326 | #532 | 0.16 |
| 1988 | 312 | #518 | 0.16 |
| 1987 | 256 | #566 | 0.14 |
| 1986 | 262 | #548 | 0.14 |
| 1985 | 209 | #605 | 0.11 |
| 1984 | 194 | #611 | 0.11 |
| 1983 | 180 | #637 | 0.10 |
| 1982 | 178 | #650 | 0.10 |
| 1981 | 136 | #747 | 0.08 |
| 1980 | 136 | #751 | 0.08 |
| 1979 | 107 | #838 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 62 | #1,112 | 0.04 |
| 1977 | 54 | #1,199 | 0.03 |
| 1976 | 42 | #1,377 | 0.03 |
| 1975 | 54 | #1,148 | 0.03 |
| 1974 | 47 | #1,217 | 0.03 |
| 1973 | 35 | #1,437 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 25 | #1,775 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 25 | #1,788 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 19 | #2,066 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 17 | #2,056 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 19 | #1,844 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 11 | #2,487 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 17 | #1,896 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 8 | #3,011 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 17 | #1,977 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 17 | #1,969 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 14 | #2,203 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 10 | #2,731 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 9 | #2,894 | under 0.01 |
| 1959 | 9 | #2,845 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 10 | #2,662 | under 0.01 |
| 1957 | 12 | #2,384 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 10 | #2,644 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 18 | #1,851 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 12 | #2,326 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 8 | #2,933 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 7 | #3,130 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 10 | #2,516 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 13 | #2,123 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 16 | #1,874 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 11 | #2,337 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 14 | #2,083 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 8 | #2,723 | under 0.01 |
| 1945 | 9 | #2,414 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 11 | #2,205 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 17 | #1,775 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 7 | #2,963 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 11 | #2,219 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 8 | #2,691 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 8 | #2,633 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 8 | #2,673 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 10 | #2,342 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 9 | #2,475 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 9 | #2,583 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 9 | #2,564 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,122 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,678 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 16 | #1,896 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 5 | #4,034 | under 0.01 |
| 1928 | 12 | #2,408 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 11 | #2,543 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 13 | #2,314 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 6 | #3,791 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,047 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 13 | #2,347 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 7 | #3,571 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 10 | #2,828 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 10 | #2,795 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 8 | #3,138 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,260 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 8 | #2,958 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,128 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 6 | #2,964 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Bryson a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Bryson has been given almost only to boys: 284 girls in 110 years of records.
Girls and boys named Bryson: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Bryson, and how old are they?
82,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 83,525 Americans ever recorded as Bryson. The median Bryson alive today is 13 years old; half are between 8 and 19.
The 2020 Census counted 58,590 people named Bryson (318 women and girls, 58,272 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 66,913 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 33 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 150 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 612 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,090 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 32,800 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 43,400 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Bryson born?
The states with the most babies named Bryson are Florida, Texas and California, with 23% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 205 | #109 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 186 | #211 | 0.8× |
| California | 164 | #230 | 0.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 141 | #86 | 0.8× |
| New York | 130 | #147 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 107 | #125 | 1.1× |
| North Carolina | 105 | #114 | 2.0× |
| Georgia | 104 | #110 | 1.8× |
| Michigan | 87 | #112 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 80 | #147 | 0.7× |
Where Bryson is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Bryson is most over-represented in Hawaii: since 1914 it was given 2.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Bryson with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 89,244 babies since 1880, Bryson is the most given (94% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,416 of their 2,505 babies (96%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Bryson
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Bryson and names like it
- Compare Bryson and BrysenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sBryson peaked in 2017.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Bryson since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Bryson: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2017The year the most babies were named Bryson.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Bryson alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with BMost given first.