Brayten
A masculine name of English origin meaning "bright, brilliant, or handsome".
Name Census estimates that about 183 living Americans carry the first name Brayten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brayten today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brayten births was 2008 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brayten. 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
183
~ 1 in 1,872,975 Americans
Peak year
2008
18 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,625
Tracked since 1997
Census
Brayten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 207 people with the first name Brayten, which placed it at #37,585 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
#37,585
National first-name rank
People counted
207
207 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brayten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brayten is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.7%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Brayten 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 Brayten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.1% · 172
- Two or more races8.7% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 11
- Black or African American1.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
Popularity
Brayten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brayten 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 90 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brayten 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 Brayten 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 Brayten
The name Brayten is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the late 20th or early 21st century. It does not appear to have a clear linguistic or cultural origin, but rather seems to be a creative combination of elements from various names and words.
One possible source of influence is the Old English word "brædan," which means "to braid" or "to weave." This could suggest a connection to craftsmanship or creativity. Another potential influence is the name Braden, which is an anglicized form of the Irish name Bradáin, meaning "salmon."
Brayten may also be a variation of the name Brayton, which has roots in England and is derived from a surname referring to a place name. The suffix "-ton" in Old English indicated a settlement or town.
The earliest recorded use of the name Brayten is difficult to pinpoint with certainty, as it is a relatively new name. However, it has gained popularity in recent years, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States and Canada.
While the name Brayten does not have a long historical tradition, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name:
1. Brayten Baxter, an American actor known for his roles in the television series "The Thundermans" and "Raven's Home." He was born in 2005.
2. Brayten Holbrook, an American professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL. He was born in 1994.
3. Brayten Schenn, a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL. He was born in 1991.
4. Brayten Almara, an American singer and songwriter who rose to prominence through her participation in the reality TV competition "The X Factor" in 2012.
5. Brayten Whitehall, a British author and illustrator known for his children's books, including the popular series "The Adventures of Brayten and Friends." He was born in 1978.
While the name Brayten is relatively new and its origins are somewhat ambiguous, it has gained popularity in recent years, possibly due to its unique sound and combination of name elements. As with many modern names, its appeal may lie in its distinctiveness and potential for creative interpretation.
People
Brayten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brayten 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
Brayten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brayten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brayten 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 1,872,975 US residents.
Is Brayten a common name?
We classify Brayten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brayten most popular?
The single biggest year for Brayten was 2008, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brayten is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brayten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 207 people with the name Brayten, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,585 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 Brayten 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 Brayten?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brayten leans strongly male. 198 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 6 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Brayten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brayten is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.7%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Brayten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brayten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.1% (172 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 Brayten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brayten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brayten 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 Brayten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brayten 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 Brayten 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 Brayten?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Brayten at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.