Braydn
A variant of the Welsh name "Braden", meaning broad or derived from the broad valley.
Name Census estimates that about 419 living Americans carry the first name Braydn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Braydn today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braydn births was 2009 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braydn. 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
419
~ 1 in 818,029 Americans
Peak year
2009
45 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2016 SSA rank
#8,235
Tracked since 1995
Popularity
Braydn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Braydn from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 243 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Braydn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Braydn 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 Braydn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Braydn
The name Braydn is a modern English variant of the traditional name Brendan, which has its origins in ancient Celtic languages. The original Brendan is derived from the Old Irish word "brenann," meaning "prince" or "sea-ravager."
Brendan was a popular name among early Irish Christians, particularly due to the fame of St. Brendan the Navigator, a legendary 6th-century Irish monk known for his sea voyages and exploration. The name became widespread across medieval Europe as Christianity spread.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brendan comes from the 9th-century Vita Brendani, a hagiography detailing the life and travels of St. Brendan. This text, along with other medieval Irish manuscripts, helped solidify the name's association with Irish and Celtic culture.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Brendan or its variants. These include Brendan the Navigator (484-577 CE), the Irish monk famous for his legendary voyage across the Atlantic Ocean; Brendan Behan (1923-1964), an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright; Brendan Coyle (born 1963), an English actor known for his role in Downton Abbey; Brendan Gleeson (born 1955), an Irish actor recognized for his performances in films like Gangs of New York and Calvary; and Brendan Fraser (born 1968), the Canadian-American actor who rose to fame in the 1990s with films like The Mummy and School Ties.
The modern spelling variation "Braydn" likely emerged in recent decades as a creative twist on the traditional Brendan, reflecting the trend of unique baby name spellings. While the origins and historical roots trace back to ancient Celtic languages and Irish Christianity, the Braydn spelling represents a contemporary adaptation of this centuries-old name.
People
Braydn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braydn 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
Braydn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braydn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 419 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braydn 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 818,029 US residents.
Is Braydn a common name?
We classify Braydn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braydn most popular?
The single biggest year for Braydn was 2009, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braydn is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Braydn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Braydn 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.
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.