Brean
A name with Celtic roots meaning "hill" or "promontory".
Name Census estimates that about 146 living Americans carry the first name Brean. It is a predominantly female name (93.5% of registrations). The average person named Brean today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brean births was 1979 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brean. 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
146
~ 1 in 2,347,632 Americans
Peak year
1979
14 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2005 SSA rank
#11,690
Tracked since 1977
Census
Brean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 305 people with the first name Brean, which placed it at #29,174 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
#29,174
National first-name rank
People counted
305
305 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brean is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Hispanic (17.0%). 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 Brean 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 Brean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.1% · 168
- Black or African American22.6% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 52
- Two or more races3.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Brean
Brean leans heavily female at 93.5% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brean as a male name
- Ranked #11,690 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1983 (5 births)
Brean as a female name
- Ranked #14,785 in 2005
- 6 female births in 2005
- Peak: 1979 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Brean on both sides of the split. Of the 301 people counted with this name, 95 were male (31.6%) and 206 were female (68.4%).
Popularity
Brean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brean from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 65 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brean 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 Brean 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 Brean
The name Brean is a unique and intriguing one, with roots that can be traced back to ancient times. Its origins are believed to be in the Celtic languages, specifically Brittonic, which was spoken in parts of what is now Great Britain and France. The name is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic word "brenon," meaning "king" or "ruler."
In the ancient texts of the Britons, there are references to powerful chieftains and kings with names similar to Brean, suggesting a connection to nobility and leadership. One such figure is Brennius, a legendary king of the Gauls who led an invasion of Greece in the 3rd century BC.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Brean can be found in medieval records from Wales and Cornwall. One notable bearer of the name was Brean ap Gwillym (c. 1300-1370), a Welsh nobleman and landowner who played a significant role in the conflicts between the Welsh and English during the 14th century.
Throughout history, there have been several other notable individuals who carried the name Brean. In the 16th century, Brean O'Reilly (c. 1510-1580) was an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Reilly clan, known for his resistance against English rule in Ireland.
Moving to more recent times, Brean Howard (1888-1964) was an English actor and playwright who gained fame for his roles in various Shakespearean productions in the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Brean Fischetti (1922-2008), an American artist and cartoonist best known for his work in The New Yorker magazine, where he contributed numerous satirical cartoons and illustrations over a span of several decades.
Lastly, Brean McDonough (1946-2002) was a British actor and writer who appeared in numerous television shows and films, including roles in popular series like "Inspector Morse" and "The Bill."
While not a common name, Brean has a rich history and has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds and eras, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the legacy of this unique and intriguing moniker.
People
Brean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brean 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
Brean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brean 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 2,347,632 US residents.
Is Brean a common name?
We classify Brean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 154 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brean most popular?
The single biggest year for Brean was 1979, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brean is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 305 people with the name Brean, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,174 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 Brean 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 Brean?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Brean on both sides of the split. Of the 301 people counted with this name, 95 were male (31.6%) and 206 were female (68.4%). 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 Brean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brean is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Hispanic (17.0%). 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 Brean most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (168 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 Brean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brean a female name?
Yes, 93.5% of people registered as Brean 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 Brean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brean 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 Brean 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 share the name Brean?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.