Bralen
Invented name with no definitive meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 349 living Americans carry the first name Bralen. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Bralen today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bralen births was 2008 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bralen. 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
349
~ 1 in 982,104 Americans
Peak year
2008
35 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,557
Tracked since 1996
Census
Bralen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 327 people with the first name Bralen, which placed it at #27,781 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
#27,781
National first-name rank
People counted
327
327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bralen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bralen is Black at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Two or More Races (10.4%). 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 Bralen 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 Bralen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.4% · 168
- White33.0% · 108
- Two or more races10.4% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Bralen
Bralen leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bralen as a male name
- Ranked #12,557 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (35 births)
Bralen as a female name
- Ranked #13,804 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1996 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bralen leans strongly male. 302 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 27 female bearers (8.2%).
Popularity
Bralen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bralen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 169 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
Bralen 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 Bralen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bralens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bralen
The name Bralen is believed to have originated from the ancient Celtic language spoken by the Britons, a group of Celtic peoples who inhabited the island of Great Britain during the Iron Age and Roman period. The name is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic root *brag, meaning "to break" or "to burst forth," possibly referring to the breaking of waters during childbirth or the bursting forth of new life.
While the exact origins of the name are shrouded in the mists of time, it is believed to have been used by the ancient Britons, who were known for their rich oral tradition and reverence for nature. The name may have held spiritual or symbolic significance, as many Celtic names were deeply rooted in the natural world and the cycles of life.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Bralen can be found in the Annales Cambriae, a chronicle of Welsh history dating back to the 10th century. The chronicle mentions a figure named Bralen ap Rhiwallon, who is said to have lived in the 6th century and was a member of the royal lineage of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Bralen was relatively uncommon, but it continued to be used sporadically among the Welsh and other Celtic communities. One notable bearer of the name was Bralen ap Gwilym (c. 1300-1370), a Welsh poet and scholar who was renowned for his contributions to the Welsh literary tradition.
In the 16th century, a prominent figure named Bralen Wynn (c. 1520-1580) emerged as a notable landowner and politician in Wales. He was a member of the influential Wynn family and played a significant role in the governance of the region during the Tudor period.
Another notable bearer of the name was Bralen Rhys (1640-1709), a Welsh clergyman and author who wrote extensively on religious and philosophical topics. His works were highly regarded and contributed to the intellectual discourse of the time.
In the 19th century, a Welsh artist named Bralen Jones (1810-1878) gained recognition for his landscape paintings, which captured the beauty and ruggedness of the Welsh countryside. His works are now considered an important part of the Welsh artistic heritage.
While the name Bralen has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its roots in the ancient Celtic culture and its connection to the rich traditions of Wales and other Celtic regions make it a unique and intriguing name with a deep historical significance.
People
Bralen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bralen 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
Bralen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bralen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 349 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bralen 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 982,104 US residents.
Is Bralen a common name?
We classify Bralen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 353 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bralen most popular?
The single biggest year for Bralen was 2008, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bralen is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bralen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 327 people with the name Bralen, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,781 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 Bralen 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 Bralen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bralen leans strongly male. 302 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 27 female bearers (8.2%). 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 Bralen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bralen is Black at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Two or More Races (10.4%). 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 Bralen most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Bralen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.4% (168 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 Bralen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bralen a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Bralen 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 Bralen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bralen 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 Bralen 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 share the name Bralen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.