Brea
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "tree bark".
Name Census estimates that about 5,524 living Americans carry the first name Brea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brea today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brea births was 1993 (268 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brea. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Brea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,048 Americans
Peak year
1993
268 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,120
Tracked since 1972
Census
Brea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,032 people with the first name Brea, which placed it at #3,894 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
#3,894
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
5,032 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brea is White at 54.2%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Hispanic (6.6%). 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 Brea 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 Brea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.2% · 2,727
- Black or African American30.8% · 1,549
- Hispanic or Latino6.6% · 332
- Two or more races6.3% · 318
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 67
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 39
Popularity
Brea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brea from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,795 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brea 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 Brea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Breas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Brea, while Mississippi, Kansas, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 95 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brea
The name Brea is believed to have originated from the Old English word "bred," which means "broad" or "wide." This name can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th century CE, in areas that are now part of modern-day England and parts of southeastern Scotland.
During the medieval period, the name Brea was commonly used as a surname or a descriptive nickname to refer to someone with a broad or sturdy build. It was not until later that the name gained popularity as a given name, particularly in the English-speaking world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brea can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property conducted in England in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions several individuals with the surname "Bred" or "Brede," which is believed to be a variant of the name Brea.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Brea. One of the earliest recorded figures was Brea of Hereford, an English nobleman who lived in the 12th century and was known for his involvement in the Norman Conquest of England.
Another notable bearer of the name was Brea de Burgh, a 13th-century Anglo-Norman heiress and landowner who held significant properties in Ireland and England. She played a role in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne.
In the 16th century, there was Brea Carey, an English courtier and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. She was known for her wit and intelligence and was a prominent figure at the Elizabethan court.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Brea Drummond was a Scottish artist and painter who gained recognition for her landscape and portrait works. She was also an advocate for women's rights and education.
In more recent times, Brea Binder was a Canadian athlete and Olympic medalist in swimming, competing in the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games.
While the name Brea has maintained its presence throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to other names of English origin. Nevertheless, its unique etymology and historical significance have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Brea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brea 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
Brea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,524 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brea 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 62,048 US residents.
Is Brea a common name?
We classify Brea as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,684 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brea most popular?
The single biggest year for Brea was 1993, when 268 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brea is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,032 people with the name Brea, or 1.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,894 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 Brea 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 Brea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brea appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,033 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Brea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brea is White at 54.2%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Hispanic (6.6%). 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 Brea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.2% (2,727 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 Brea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brea 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 Brea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brea 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 Brea 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 Brea?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.