Braelin
Braelin is a whimsical contemporary name of unknown origin, possibly coined.
Name Census estimates that about 617 living Americans carry the first name Braelin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Braelin today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braelin births was 2009 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braelin. 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
617
~ 1 in 555,518 Americans
Peak year
2009
42 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,097
Tracked since 1995
Census
Braelin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 498 people with the first name Braelin, which placed it at #20,655 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
#20,655
National first-name rank
People counted
498
498 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Braelin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braelin is White at 50.6%. The next largest groups are Black (32.9%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Braelin 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 Braelin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.6% · 252
- Black or African American32.9% · 164
- Two or more races8.6% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Braelin
Braelin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 623 total registrations, 376 (60.4%) were male and 247 (39.6%) were female.
Braelin as a male name
- Ranked #11,097 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (28 births)
Braelin as a female name
- Ranked #13,875 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2008 (20 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Braelin on both sides of the split. Of the 500 people counted with this name, 270 were male (54.0%) and 230 were female (46.0%).
Popularity
Braelin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Braelin 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 274 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Braelin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Braelin 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 Braelin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Braelins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Braelin
The name Braelin has its origins in the ancient Celtic languages spoken across the British Isles and parts of continental Europe. It is believed to have derived from the Old Irish word "braen," meaning "rain" or "moisture," and the diminutive suffix "-in," indicating smallness or endearment. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person born during a rainy season or associated with water in some way.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Braelin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In an entry dated 1021 AD, a figure named "Braelin mac Maelruanaidh" is mentioned as a chieftain of the Uí Briúin clan in what is now County Roscommon, Ireland. This suggests that the name was in use among the Irish nobility at that time.
During the Middle Ages, the name Braelin appeared in various spellings, such as "Braylin," "Brealin," and "Braelyn," in records from Scotland and England. It is possible that the name travelled with Celtic settlers or was adopted by non-Celtic populations over time.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Braelin MacDonald (c. 1520-1581) was a Scottish chieftain and warrior who played a role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was known for his loyalty to the House of Stuart and his defense of the Catholic faith during the Scottish Reformation.
Another historical figure bearing the name Braelin was a Welsh bard and poet named Braelin ap Gwilym (c. 1300-1370). His surviving works, written in the traditional Welsh poetic style, provide valuable insights into the culture and society of medieval Wales.
In the 18th century, a French explorer and naturalist named Braelin Delacroix (1725-1799) made significant contributions to the study of plant and animal life in the Caribbean and South America. His detailed journals and illustrations have been invaluable resources for modern scientists.
More recently, Braelin O'Connor (1945-2018) was an Irish actress and playwright known for her work in both contemporary and classical theatre. She was a prominent figure in the Irish arts scene and received numerous accolades, including the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Actress in 1992.
While the name Braelin has its roots in ancient Celtic cultures, it has been adopted and adapted by various communities over the centuries, reflecting the rich tapestry of cultural exchange and migration across Europe and beyond.
People
Braelin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braelin 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
Braelin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braelin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 617 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braelin 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 555,518 US residents.
Is Braelin a common name?
We classify Braelin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braelin most popular?
The single biggest year for Braelin was 2009, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braelin is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Braelin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 498 people with the name Braelin, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,655 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 Braelin 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 Braelin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Braelin on both sides of the split. Of the 500 people counted with this name, 270 were male (54.0%) and 230 were female (46.0%). 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 Braelin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braelin is White at 50.6%. The next largest groups are Black (32.9%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Braelin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Braelin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.6% (252 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 Braelin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Braelin a male name?
Yes, 60.4% of people registered as Braelin 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 Braelin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Braelin 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 Braelin 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 people have the name Braelin?
See how many people have the name Braelin on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.