Bracy
Of French origin, meaning "embrace" or "form of affection".
Name Census estimates that about 56 living Americans carry the first name Bracy. It is a predominantly male name (94.2% of registrations). The average person named Bracy today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bracy births was 1917 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bracy. 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 Bracy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
56
~ 1 in 6,120,613 Americans
Peak year
1917
10 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2002 SSA rank
#10,873
Tracked since 1917
Census
Bracy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 194 people with the first name Bracy, which placed it at #39,126 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
#39,126
National first-name rank
People counted
194
194 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bracy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bracy is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Hispanic (9.3%). 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 Bracy 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 Bracy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.6% · 102
- Black or African American27.3% · 53
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.7% · 11
- Two or more races5.2% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Bracy
Bracy leans heavily male at 94.2% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bracy as a male name
- Ranked #10,873 in 2002
- 5 male births in 2002
- Peak: 1917 (10 births)
Bracy as a female name
- Ranked #16,148 in 2003
- 5 female births in 2003
- Peak: 2003 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bracy on both sides of the split. Of the 197 people counted with this name, 137 were male (69.5%) and 60 were female (30.5%).
Popularity
Bracy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bracy from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 21 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Bracy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bracy 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 Bracy 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 Bracy
The name Bracy is an English given name that emerged in the Middle Ages, derived from the Old French word "brace," which means "arm" or "embrace." Its linguistic roots can be traced back to the Latin word "bracchium," meaning "arm" or "branch."
In the early medieval period, the name Bracy was commonly used as a nickname or a descriptive surname, referring to someone with strong or muscular arms. It was often given to blacksmiths, archers, or individuals known for their physical strength and prowess in combat or manual labor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bracy can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as a surname, indicating its usage at the time.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Bracy was associated with various notable figures. One such individual was Bracy de Ferte, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He was granted lands in Lincolnshire for his valor and loyalty.
In the 13th century, Bracy de Monmouth was a renowned Welsh knight and military commander who fought in the Welsh wars against the English forces. He played a crucial role in the defense of Monmouthshire and earned a reputation for his bravery and leadership skills.
Another historical figure bearing the name Bracy was John Bracy, an English yeoman who served as a member of the Honourable Artillery Company, a prestigious military unit in London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, Bracy Bunyan was a notable English Puritan author and preacher, best known for his allegorical work "The Pilgrim's Progress," published in 1678. He faced persecution for his religious beliefs and spent several years in prison, where he wrote his famous literary masterpiece.
Bracy Dalton, an English explorer and adventurer, embarked on a voyage to the Americas in the late 17th century. He documented his travels and encounters with indigenous populations, providing valuable insights into the early colonial era and the exploration of the New World.
While the name Bracy has its roots in the Middle Ages and has been associated with various historical figures throughout the centuries, it has gradually declined in usage over time, particularly in more recent decades.
People
Bracy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bracy 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
Bracy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bracy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 56 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bracy 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 6,120,613 US residents.
Is Bracy a common name?
We classify Bracy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 86 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bracy most popular?
The single biggest year for Bracy was 1917, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bracy is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bracy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 194 people with the name Bracy, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,126 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 Bracy 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 Bracy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bracy on both sides of the split. Of the 197 people counted with this name, 137 were male (69.5%) and 60 were female (30.5%). 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 Bracy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bracy is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Hispanic (9.3%). 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 Bracy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bracy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.6% (102 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 Bracy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bracy a male name?
Yes, 94.2% of people registered as Bracy 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 Bracy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bracy 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 Bracy 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 many Americans are named Bracy?
See how many Americans are named Bracy on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.