Explore the Family Name Brief

The meaning of Brief

German, French (Nord, Pas-de-Calais) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German and Old French brief ‘letter, missive’, German Brief, hence a metonymic occupational name for a letter carrier or scribe. Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Wolf. Jewish Chaskel, Hyman, Mayer. French Benoit, Monique.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Brief in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Brief" showed a slight decrease in rank from 2000 to 2010, moving from 63,297th to 64,388th, marking a decline of 1.72%. However, the actual count of people with this surname increased by 4.75%, from 295 in 2000 to 309 in 2010. The proportion per 100,000 people saw a decrease of 9.09% over the same period, indicating that while the number of people with the surname grew, it did not keep pace with the overall population growth.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#63,297	#64,388	-1.72%
Count	295	309	4.75%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.1	-9.09%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Brief

The ethnic identity associated with the surname "Brief" remained predominantly White from 2000 to 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, 95.59% of individuals with this surname identified as White, and this figure slightly decreased to 95.15% in 2010. Hispanic representation among those with the surname Brief saw a significant increase of 59.61% over the decade, from 2.03% in 2000 to 3.24% in 2010. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year. Interestingly, the percentage of individuals identifying with two or more races dropped from 1.69% in 2000 to zero in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.59%	95.15%	-0.46%
Hispanic	2.03%	3.24%	59.61%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	1.69%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%