Braeden
British variant of the Celtic name meaning "from the broad valley".
Name Census estimates that about 13,663 living Americans carry the first name Braeden. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Braeden today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braeden births was 2005 (1,027 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braeden. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Braeden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Braeden is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 230 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 25,086 Americans
Peak year
2005
1,027 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,389
Tracked since 1973
Census
Braeden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,411 people with the first name Braeden, which placed it at #2,149 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
#2,149
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
12,411 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Braeden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braeden is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.9%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Braeden 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 Braeden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.3% · 9,848
- Two or more races6.9% · 859
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 778
- Black or African American5.4% · 667
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 165
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 94
Gender
Gender distribution for Braeden
Braeden leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 230 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Braeden as a male name
- Ranked #2,389 in 2024
- 58 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (1,004 births)
Braeden as a female name
- Ranked #13,933 in 2009
- 7 female births in 2009
- Peak: 2004 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Braeden leans strongly male. 12,164 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 245 female bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Braeden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Braeden from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 8,549 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Braeden 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 Braeden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Braedens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Braeden, while Wyoming, Alaska, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 251 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Braeden
The given name Braeden is a modern English variant of the ancient Irish masculine name Bradan, which is derived from the Gaelic word "bradan" meaning "salmon." This name has its origins in Celtic mythology and folklore, where the salmon was a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and perseverance.
Braeden was not a commonly used name until the late 20th century, but its roots can be traced back to Ireland and Scotland, where the name Bradan was popular among Celtic communities. The name may have been inspired by the legendary Salmon of Knowledge from Irish mythology, which was said to possess all the wisdom of the world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bradan can be found in the ancient Irish epic "The Tain Bo Cuailnge," which dates back to the 8th century AD. In this epic, Bradan was the name of a warrior who fought alongside the legendary hero Cú Chulainn.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bradan or its variant spellings. Braden of Ardglass (c. 1100 - c. 1170) was a 12th-century Irish cleric and historian who wrote extensively about the early history of Ireland. Another notable figure was Bradan Beag (c. 1580 - c. 1650), a Scottish Highland warrior and chieftain who played a significant role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
In more recent times, the name Braeden gained popularity as a modern English variant, with the first recorded use of this spelling dating back to the late 20th century. One of the earliest notable individuals with this spelling was Braeden Wyatt (born 1982), an Australian actor known for his roles in television shows such as "McLeod's Daughters" and "Neighbours."
Other notable individuals with the name Braeden include Braeden Parrish (born 1990), an American professional baseball player; Braeden Kappes (born 1997), a Canadian actor and singer; and Braeden Walker (born 2000), a professional surfer from Australia.
People
Braeden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braeden 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
Braeden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braeden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,663 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braeden 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 25,086 US residents.
Is Braeden a common name?
We classify Braeden as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,837 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braeden most popular?
The single biggest year for Braeden was 2005, when 1,027 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braeden is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Braeden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,411 people with the name Braeden, or 4.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,149 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 Braeden 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 Braeden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Braeden leans strongly male. 12,164 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 245 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Braeden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braeden is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.9%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Braeden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Braeden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.3% (9,848 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 Braeden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Braeden a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Braeden 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 Braeden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Braeden 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 Braeden 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 Braeden?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Braeden on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.