Surname Rarity Checker / How rare is Brown
How Rare Is the Last Name Brown?
Brown is the 4th most common surname in the United States. About 1,437,026 Americans carry it, which works out to roughly 1 in 185 people, or 0.541% of the population. That is one of the most common surnames in the country. Here is the full picture from the Census surname file, plus a card you can save and share.
- Rarity
- 1 in 185
- Tier
- Very Common
- U.S. rank
- 4th
- Share of people
- 0.541%
- People named
- 1,437,026
- Source
- Census 2010
Based on the U.S. Census Bureau 2010 surname file, which counts 265,667,228 people across 162,253 surnames held by 100 or more people.
Where the surname Brown comes from
Brown started as a nickname for someone with brown hair or a brown complexion. Descriptive nicknames were one of the four great sources of English surnames, alongside jobs, places, and fathers' names.
Want to check a different last name? Try the surname rarity checker. Last names are only half the picture: the first-name rarity checker runs the same math on given names, and how common is my name combines the two.
Frequently asked questions
- How rare is the last name Brown?
- Brown is in the Very Common tier. About 1 in 185 Americans share it, which is 0.541% of the population, and it ranks 4th of all U.S. surnames. In total 1,437,026 people carried it in the 2010 Census.
- Is Brown a rare last name?
- No. Brown is a well-established surname rather than a rare one. It is in the Very Common tier, ranked 4th of all U.S. surnames, with about 1 in 185 Americans sharing it.
- How common is the surname Brown?
- About 1 in 185 Americans carry the surname Brown, which is 0.541% of the population and 4th of all U.S. surnames. That places it in the Very Common tier.
- How many people have the last name Brown?
- 1,437,026 people in the United States, according to the Census Bureau's 2010 surname file, which counted 265,667,228 people across 162,253 surnames.
- Where does the surname Brown come from?
- Brown started as a nickname for someone with brown hair or a brown complexion. Descriptive nicknames were one of the four great sources of English surnames, alongside jobs, places, and fathers' names.