Brance
Derived from the English word "branch", representing strength and growth.
Name Census estimates that about 306 living Americans carry the first name Brance. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brance today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brance births was 2009 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brance. 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
306
~ 1 in 1,120,112 Americans
Peak year
2009
15 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,378
Tracked since 1969
Census
Brance in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 323 people with the first name Brance, which placed it at #28,012 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
#28,012
National first-name rank
People counted
323
323 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brance
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brance is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Brance 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 Brance at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 260
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 21
- Black or African American5.6% · 18
- Two or more races4.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Brance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brance from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 96 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Brance remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brance 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 Brance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brances live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brance
The given name Brance has its origins rooted in the Latin language, derived from the word "branca," which means "branch" or "claw." This connection to the natural world suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone with a sturdy or resilient character, much like a strong branch on a tree.
In the early days of the Roman Empire, the name Brance was commonly used among families of nobility and those with connections to the military or agricultural communities. It was considered a name of strength and resilience, qualities highly valued in those times.
Records indicate that one of the earliest known individuals with the name Brance was a Roman soldier who lived during the reign of Emperor Tiberius in the 1st century AD. This soldier, Brance Cornelius, was known for his bravery and unwavering loyalty to the Roman Empire.
As the centuries passed, the name Brance continued to be used across various regions of Europe, particularly in areas influenced by Latin culture and language. One notable figure was Brance de Montpellier, a 12th-century French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade alongside King Richard I of England.
In the 15th century, Brance Lorenzetti, an Italian painter and architect from Siena, gained recognition for his frescoes depicting allegorical themes of good and bad governance. His works, such as the "Allegory of Good and Bad Government," remain masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.
During the 16th century, Brance Caccialupi was an Italian poet and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of classical literature. His writings and translations played a crucial role in preserving and disseminating ancient texts.
Moving into the 18th century, Brance Clairmont was a French philosopher and writer who explored ideas of enlightenment and reason. His works challenged traditional beliefs and advocated for intellectual freedom and progress.
Throughout history, the name Brance has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds, each leaving their mark on various fields, from military service and nobility to the arts, literature, and philosophy. Despite its ancient roots, the name continues to resonate with themes of strength, resilience, and a connection to the natural world.
People
Brance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brance 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
Brance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 306 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brance 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 1,120,112 US residents.
Is Brance a common name?
We classify Brance as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 312 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brance most popular?
The single biggest year for Brance was 2009, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brance is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brance in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 323 people with the name Brance, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,012 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 Brance 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 Brance?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brance appears almost entirely male. Of the 321 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Brance?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brance is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Brance most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (260 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 Brance in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brance a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brance 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 Brance still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brance 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 Brance 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 are named Brance?
Want to know how many Americans are named Brance? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.