Explore the Family Name Brier

The meaning of Brier

English (Yorkshire): topographic name for someone who lived by a briar patch, Middle English brere (Old English brǣr ‘thorn bush’). This was also applied as a nickname for a prickly, difficult person. Compare Breer.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Brier has seen a slight decline over the years. Ranked 14,383 in 2000, it fell to 16,012 by 2010, marking an 11.33% decrease. The count of individuals bearing this surname also decreased from 1,909 in 2000 to 1,813 in 2010, showing a 5.03% drop. Concurrently, the proportion of people with the Brier surname per 100,000 residents also saw a reduction of 14.08%, going from 0.71 in 2000 to 0.61 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,383	#16,012	-11.33%
Count	1,909	1,813	-5.03%
Proportion per 100k	0.71	0.61	-14.08%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Brier

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data presents some changes between 2000 and 2010. Although the majority of individuals with the Brier surname identified as White (89.94% in 2000 and 89.58% in 2010), there was a minor decrease of 0.40%. The Hispanic representation saw a substantial increase of 36.99%, rising from 1.73% in 2000 to 2.37% in 2010. However, the percentage of Black individuals dropped by 9.95%, moving from 6.13% in 2000 to 5.52% in 2010. There were also new entries for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories in 2010, which weren't present in the 2000 data. Finally, those identifying as Two or more races increased by 8.92%, changing from 1.57% in 2000 to 1.71% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	89.94%	89.58%	-0.4%
Black	6.13%	5.52%	-9.95%
Hispanic	1.73%	2.37%	36.99%
Two or More Races	1.57%	1.71%	8.92%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.5%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.33%	0%