Brackston
A name derived from an English place name meaning "Brock's settlement".
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Brackston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brackston today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brackston births was 2008 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brackston. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Brackston. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
2008
9 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2016 SSA rank
#10,931
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Brackston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brackston from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 21 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
Brackston 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 Brackston 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 Brackston
The given name Brackston is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English words "bracken" and "tun," which together translate to "bracken settlement" or "bracken farm."
Bracken is a type of fern that was abundant in the British Isles during that era, and "tun" was a common suffix used to denote a settlement or enclosed area. This suggests that Brackston may have originally referred to a person who lived in or was associated with a settlement or farmstead surrounded by bracken ferns.
The earliest known written record of the name Brackston can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population records commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this document, there are several entries that mention individuals with variations of the name, such as "Brachestun" and "Brakestun."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brackston. One of the earliest recorded was Sir John Brackston, a prominent English landowner and knight who lived during the reign of King Edward III in the 14th century. Another notable figure was William Brackston, a 17th-century English clergyman who served as the Rector of St. Michael's Church in Oxford.
In the 18th century, Thomas Brackston was a respected English architect who designed several notable buildings, including the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Gloucestershire. During the same period, James Brackston was a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy and participated in several significant battles during the American Revolutionary War.
Moving into the 19th century, John Brackston was a prominent English lawyer and Member of Parliament who played a crucial role in shaping legal reforms during the Victorian era. He was also a staunch advocate for social and political changes, including the abolition of slavery and the expansion of voting rights.
While the name Brackston has its roots in ancient Anglo-Saxon culture, it has endured through the centuries and continues to be used as a given name in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries with historical ties to Britain.
People
Brackston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brackston 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
Brackston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brackston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brackston 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Brackston a common name?
We classify Brackston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brackston most popular?
The single biggest year for Brackston was 2008, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brackston is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Brackston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brackston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brackston 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 Brackston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brackston 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 Brackston 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Brackston?
Find out how many people have the name Brackston on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.