Brayla
A feminine name derived from the Irish surname Breheny, possibly meaning "descendant of brine".
Name Census estimates that about 603 living Americans carry the first name Brayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brayla today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brayla births was 2017 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brayla. 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
603
~ 1 in 568,415 Americans
Peak year
2017
44 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,807
Tracked since 1993
Census
Brayla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 441 people with the first name Brayla, which placed it at #22,535 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
#22,535
National first-name rank
People counted
441
441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brayla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brayla is Black at 52.2%. The next largest groups are White (35.8%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Brayla 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 Brayla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.2% · 230
- White35.8% · 158
- Two or more races6.1% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Brayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brayla from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 326 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Brayla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brayla 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 Brayla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Braylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Ohio, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Brayla, while Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brayla
The given name Brayla is a relatively modern name that appears to have originated in the late 20th or early 21st century. Its exact origins are uncertain, but it is likely a combination or variation of existing names such as Brayden and Layla.
The name Brayla does not have a long historical lineage or clear cultural roots. It is a unique and creative name that has become more popular in recent years, particularly in the United States and other English-speaking countries. However, there are no known references to this name in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records from previous centuries.
While the name Brayla is relatively new, there have been a few notable individuals who have carried this name throughout history. One example is Brayla Jean Smith (1932-2018), an American author and poet from Louisiana, known for her works exploring themes of Southern culture and identity.
Another individual with the name Brayla is Brayla Norwood (born 1989), an American actress and model who has appeared in several television shows and films. She is particularly known for her role in the drama series "The Haves and the Have Nots."
In the field of sports, Brayla Cunningham (born 1995) is a professional basketball player from Canada who has played for various teams in the WNBA and overseas leagues.
Brayla Simmons (born 2002) is a rising young artist from the United States, who has gained recognition for her vibrant and expressive paintings, often depicting themes of identity and self-expression.
Lastly, Brayla Rae Johnson (born 1997) is an American entrepreneur and influencer, known for her successful social media presence and advocacy for body positivity and self-love.
While these individuals may not be widely recognized historical figures, they represent some of the earliest recorded examples of people bearing the name Brayla and contribute to the growing popularity and recognition of this unique name in modern times.
People
Brayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brayla 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
Brayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brayla 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 568,415 US residents.
Is Brayla a common name?
We classify Brayla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 609 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Brayla was 2017, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brayla is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brayla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 441 people with the name Brayla, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,535 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 Brayla 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 Brayla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brayla appears almost entirely female. Of the 442 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Brayla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brayla is Black at 52.2%. The next largest groups are White (35.8%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Brayla most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Brayla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (230 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 Brayla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brayla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brayla in the SSA data are female. 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 Brayla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brayla 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 Brayla 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 have the name Brayla?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Brayla on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.