Braelen
A Scottish variation of the masculine name Brayden meaning "brave".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Braelen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Braelen today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braelen births was 2009 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braelen. 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
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
2009
25 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,554
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Braelen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Braelen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 135 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Braelen 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 Braelen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Braelens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Braelen
The name Braelen has its origins in the Celtic languages, particularly in the ancient Brittonic branch that gave rise to modern Welsh and Breton. It is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 5th to 10th centuries CE, when these languages were widely spoken across regions of what is now Wales, Cornwall, and parts of northern France.
Braelen is thought to be a compound name, derived from the Welsh root words "bra" meaning "high" or "elevated," and "elen," which was a common Welsh feminine name meaning "bright" or "shining." Together, the name may have originally signified a person of high stature or elevated status, or perhaps someone with a bright or radiant demeanor.
Some scholars trace the earliest recorded instances of the name Braelen to medieval Welsh literature and poetry, where it was occasionally used as a character name or a descriptor. However, concrete evidence of its widespread usage during this time period remains scarce.
The first documented individual with the name Braelen appears to be Braelen ap Gwilym, a minor Welsh nobleman who lived in the early 15th century. Records indicate that he was a landowner and local official in the region of Pembrokeshire, Wales.
In the late 16th century, a Braelen Owain was noted as a renowned bard and poet in the court of the Tudor monarchs in England. His works, which celebrated Welsh culture and history, were highly regarded during the Renaissance period.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Braelen surfaced sporadically in various parts of the British Isles, often among families with Welsh or Cornish ancestry. Notable individuals included Braelen Griffith (1657-1725), a Welsh clergyman and scholar, and Braelen Trevallyn (1702-1779), a Cornish explorer and navigator who sailed with the British Royal Navy.
In more recent centuries, the name Braelen has remained relatively uncommon, though it has experienced a modest resurgence in popularity in certain regions, particularly in parts of the United States and Canada with significant Welsh or Celtic cultural influences.
People
Braelen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braelen 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
Braelen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braelen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braelen 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Braelen a common name?
We classify Braelen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 273 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braelen most popular?
The single biggest year for Braelen was 2009, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braelen is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Braelen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Braelen 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.
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.