Brace
A name derived from the word for a support or reinforcement.
Name Census estimates that about 101 living Americans carry the first name Brace. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brace today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brace births was 2012 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brace. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
101
~ 1 in 3,393,607 Americans
Peak year
2012
10 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,889
Tracked since 1912
Census
Brace in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 284 people with the first name Brace, which placed it at #30,583 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#30,583
National first-name rank
People counted
284
284 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brace
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brace is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Brace described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Brace at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.7% · 232
- Black or African American8.5% · 24
- Two or more races4.6% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Brace: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brace from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 53 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brace by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Brace during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brace
The given name Brace finds its origins in the Old English word "brace," which means "to embrace" or "to clasp." This name has a strong connection to the concept of strength and protection, reflecting the act of holding someone or something tightly or securely.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Brace emerged as a descriptive term for individuals who possessed physical strength or were known for their protective nature. It was particularly common among Germanic tribes and Anglo-Saxon communities, where valor and fortitude were highly valued traits.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brace can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This document mentions several individuals bearing the name, suggesting its usage during the Norman period.
Throughout the centuries, the name Brace has been associated with various historical figures renowned for their bravery, resilience, or physical prowess. One notable bearer of this name was Brace de Verdon, a 13th-century English knight who played a significant role in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III.
Another prominent figure was Brace Godfrey, a 16th-century English merchant and adventurer who gained fame for his exploits in the New World. He was among the first English settlers in Virginia and is credited with establishing several successful trading posts along the Chesapeake Bay.
In the realm of literature, the name Brace was immortalized by the character Brace Bunting, a brave and loyal soldier in Charles Dickens' novel "Barnaby Rudge," published in 1841. This fictional character embodied the qualities of strength and unwavering determination.
The 19th century also saw the rise of Brace Trelawny, a British military officer and explorer who participated in several expeditions to the Middle East and North Africa. His adventures and discoveries were chronicled in his memoirs, which became popular reading material at the time.
Lastly, a notable figure from the 20th century was Brace Pearson, an Australian cricketer who played for the national team in the 1930s and 1940s. Known for his powerful batting and exceptional fielding skills, he remains one of the most celebrated sportsmen in Australian cricket history.
People
Brace + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brace as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Brace: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brace?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 101 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brace going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,393,607 US residents.
Is Brace a common name?
We classify Brace as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 121 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brace most popular?
The single biggest year for Brace was 2012, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brace is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brace in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 284 people with the name Brace, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,583 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Brace in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Brace?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brace leans strongly male. 263 people counted with this name were male (92.0%), compared with 23 female bearers (8.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Brace?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brace is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Brace most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brace in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (232 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Brace in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brace a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brace in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Brace still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brace in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Brace can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Brace?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Brace at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.