Bravo
An Italian word meaning "brave", from the Spanish for "valiant, gallant".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Bravo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bravo today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bravo births was 2014 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bravo. 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 Bravo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2014
6 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,448
Tracked since 2014
Census
Bravo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 150 people with the first name Bravo, which placed it at #45,340 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
#45,340
National first-name rank
People counted
150
150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bravo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bravo is Hispanic at 42.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.3%) and Black (14.0%). 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 Bravo 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 Bravo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.0% · 63
- White27.3% · 41
- Black or African American14.0% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.0% · 18
- Two or more races4.7% · 7
Popularity
Bravo: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Bravo 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 Bravo 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 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Bravo
The given name Bravo has its origins in the Italian language and culture. It is believed to have originated as a nickname or term of praise for someone who displayed bravery or courage. The word "bravo" in Italian means "brave" or "courageous."
The earliest known use of Bravo as a given name can be traced back to the late Middle Ages in Italy. It is likely that it was initially used as a descriptive nickname or surname before becoming an accepted first name in its own right.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Bravo was Giovanni Bravo, an Italian painter and architect who lived from around 1520 to 1586. He was known for his work in the Venetian Renaissance style and contributed to the design of several churches and palaces in Venice.
Another notable figure with the name Bravo was Cesare Bravo, an Italian composer and music theorist who lived from 1550 to 1618. He is best known for his treatise on music theory titled "Regole per la costruzione delle fughe" (Rules for the Construction of Fugues).
In the field of literature, one of the most famous individuals named Bravo was the Italian poet and satirist Pietro Aretino, who lived from 1492 to 1556. He was known for his biting satires and was often referred to as the "Scourge of Princes" for his critiques of the powerful and influential.
During the Renaissance period, the name Bravo also became associated with bravado and boldness, particularly in the context of dueling and displays of honor. This association likely contributed to its popularity as a given name among the aristocratic classes of Italy.
In the 17th century, the name Bravo gained some prominence in Spain, where it was used by several members of the nobility, including Don Juan Bravo de Lagunas, a Spanish military commander and governor of various provinces in the Spanish Empire.
While the name Bravo has its roots in Italian and Spanish cultures, it has since spread to other parts of the world and has been adopted by individuals of various backgrounds and nationalities. However, its historical significance and connotations of bravery and courage remain intact, making it a unique and evocative choice for a given name.
People
Bravo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bravo 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
Bravo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bravo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bravo 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Bravo a common name?
We classify Bravo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bravo most popular?
The single biggest year for Bravo was 2014, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bravo is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bravo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 150 people with the name Bravo, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,340 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 Bravo 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 Bravo?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bravo on both sides of the split. Of the 157 people counted with this name, 119 were male (75.8%) and 38 were female (24.2%). 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 Bravo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bravo is Hispanic at 42.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.3%) and Black (14.0%). 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 Bravo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Bravo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.0% (63 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 Bravo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bravo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bravo 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 Bravo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bravo 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 Bravo 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 common is the name Bravo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.