Brazen
A bold and audacious name implying shameless impudence or effrontery.
Name Census estimates that about 206 living Americans carry the first name Brazen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brazen today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brazen births was 2017 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brazen. 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
206
~ 1 in 1,663,856 Americans
Peak year
2017
32 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,019
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Brazen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brazen from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 129 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Brazen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brazen 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 Brazen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brazens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brazen
The name Brazen is derived from the Old English word "braesen," which means "made of brass." This word, in turn, comes from the Proto-Germanic "brasiz," which is related to the Proto-Indo-European root "bhres-," meaning "to burn or glow."
Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, has a distinctive golden hue and was prized for its use in decorative metalwork and religious artifacts. The name Brazen likely originated as a descriptive term for someone who worked with brass or had a complexion reminiscent of the metal's warm color.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Brazen can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and resources in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Bræsene," indicating its use as a surname or descriptive epithet at the time.
In literature, the name Brazen is mentioned in the epic poem "Beowulf," thought to have been composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. The poem describes a "brazen-hilted sword," referring to a sword with a brass or bronze hilt.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brazen. Brazen Nose College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, was founded in 1509 and named after its first principal, Brazen Nose. The origin of this peculiar nickname is uncertain, but it may have referred to the principal's complexion or a brass door knocker.
Another notable figure was Brazen Head, a legendary automaton or mechanical head rumored to have been constructed by medieval scholars such as Roger Bacon or Albertus Magnus. The Brazen Head was said to have the ability to answer questions and prophesy future events.
In the 16th century, the English poet and dramatist George Peele wrote a play titled "The Old Wives' Tale," which featured a character named Brazen Head. This character was likely inspired by the legendary automaton and served as a source of wisdom and prophecy in the play.
During the 17th century, a man named Brazen Whinnidge lived in England and became known for his eccentricity and peculiar behavior. He was known to walk around in a brass helmet and armor, which earned him the nickname "Brazen."
In the 20th century, Brazen Pickering was a Canadian pilot and aviation pioneer who played a significant role in the development of commercial aviation in Canada. He was born in 1889 and was instrumental in establishing air routes and airports across the country.
People
Brazen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brazen 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
Brazen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brazen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 206 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brazen 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 1,663,856 US residents.
Is Brazen a common name?
We classify Brazen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 208 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brazen most popular?
The single biggest year for Brazen was 2017, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brazen is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brazen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brazen 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.