Braesen
A name of Germanic origin possibly meaning "from the heath".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Braesen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Braesen today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braesen births was 2012 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braesen. 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 Braesen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2012
5 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2012 SSA rank
#12,524
Tracked since 2012
Popularity
Braesen: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Braesen 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 Braesen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Braesen
The given name Braesen is believed to have originated from the Germanic language family, with roots that can be traced back to the Old Norse and Old English dialects spoken in Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe during the early medieval period. The name is thought to be a compound word derived from the Old Norse words "bra" meaning "brush wood" or "brushy area" and "aesir" referring to the principal gods in Norse mythology.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Braesen can be found in the Icelandic sagas, which were written down between the 12th and 14th centuries. These literary works, which recount the stories and histories of medieval Scandinavian societies, mention a few individuals bearing this name or variations of it, such as Braesengr and Braesingr.
In the 9th century, a Norwegian chieftain named Braesen Ketilsson is mentioned in the Landnámabók, a medieval Icelandic manuscript that documents the settlement of Iceland by Norse explorers and settlers. Ketilsson is said to have been one of the first settlers to establish a permanent homestead in the region now known as Borgarfjörður in western Iceland.
Another notable figure with the name Braesen was a 12th-century Swedish clergyman and historian, Braesen Svensson, who authored several important works chronicling the lives of Swedish kings and the early history of the Swedish church.
During the 16th century, a German merchant and explorer named Braesen Ulfeldt is recorded as having undertaken several voyages to the Arctic regions of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where he made significant contributions to the mapping and exploration of these remote areas.
In more recent times, a Norwegian artist and painter named Braesen Nordahl (1892-1967) gained recognition for his landscape paintings and depictions of rural life in Norway during the early 20th century.
While the name Braesen has its roots in ancient Germanic cultures, it has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, with only a handful of notable individuals bearing this name across different regions and time periods.
People
Braesen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braesen 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
Braesen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braesen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braesen 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Braesen a common name?
We classify Braesen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braesen most popular?
The single biggest year for Braesen was 2012, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braesen is about 14 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 Braesen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Braesen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Braesen 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 Braesen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Braesen 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 Braesen 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 called Braesen?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.