Brayton
From an English surname, possibly meaning "broad or large town".
Name Census estimates that about 2,431 living Americans carry the first name Brayton. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Brayton today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brayton births was 2012 (106 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brayton. 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
2.4K
~ 1 in 140,993 Americans
Peak year
2012
106 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,322
Tracked since 1916
Census
Brayton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,202 people with the first name Brayton, which placed it at #7,053 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
#7,053
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,202 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brayton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brayton is White at 84.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Brayton 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 Brayton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.8% · 1,868
- Two or more races4.9% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 106
- Black or African American3.2% · 71
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Brayton
Out of the 2,501 babies given the name Brayton since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Brayton as a male name
- Ranked #4,322 in 2024
- 24 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (106 births)
Brayton as a female name
- Ranked #15,447 in 2006
- 6 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1996 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brayton leans strongly male. 2,133 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 63 female bearers (2.9%).
Popularity
Brayton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brayton from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 823 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brayton 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 Brayton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Braytons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Indiana, Iowa, Texas recorded the most babies named Brayton, while North Carolina, Kansas, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brayton
The name Brayton is of English origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words 'braed' and 'tun', which together mean 'broad town' or 'broad settlement'. The name was likely given to someone who lived in a town or village that was particularly wide or sprawling.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Brayton can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were census records compiled during the reign of King Edward I. In these rolls, there is a reference to a man named Robertus de Brayton, who was presumably from a location called Brayton.
The name Brayton was not particularly common in ancient or medieval times, and there are few historical references to notable individuals with this first name. However, a few examples can be found throughout the centuries.
In the 16th century, there was an English politician named Brayton Bury (c. 1520-1584), who served as a Member of Parliament for Wiltshire and was involved in the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII.
In the 17th century, a man named Brayton Cobleigh (1610-1688) was a prominent merchant and landowner in the American colony of Massachusetts. He was one of the founders of the town of Braintree and served as a selectman and magistrate.
The 19th century saw the birth of Brayton Ives (1840-1914), an American engineer and inventor who is credited with developing the first practical oil cup for lubricating machinery. He held numerous patents and was a pioneer in the field of mechanical engineering.
Another notable individual with the first name Brayton was Brayton C. Case (1888-1962), an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company and played a significant role in the development of agricultural machinery.
In the 20th century, Brayton Wilbur Grier Jr. (1913-1992) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was known for his legal expertise and his commitment to civil rights and equal justice under the law.
While not an exceedingly common name, Brayton has a rich history and a connection to various areas of human endeavor, from politics and business to engineering and the law. Its origins as an Old English place name add to its unique character and cultural significance.
People
Brayton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brayton 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
Brayton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brayton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,431 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brayton 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 140,993 US residents.
Is Brayton a common name?
We classify Brayton as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,501 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brayton most popular?
The single biggest year for Brayton was 2012, when 106 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brayton is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brayton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,202 people with the name Brayton, or 0.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,053 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 Brayton 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 Brayton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brayton leans strongly male. 2,133 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 63 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 Brayton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brayton is White at 84.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Brayton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brayton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.8% (1,868 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 Brayton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brayton a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Brayton 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 Brayton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brayton 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 Brayton 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 Brayton?
See how many people have the name Brayton on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.