Brecca
A masculine name of Old English origin meaning "breach" or "fracture".
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Brecca. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brecca today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brecca births was 1974 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brecca. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Brecca. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
1974
5 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1999 SSA rank
#14,735
Tracked since 1974
Popularity
Brecca: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brecca from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 25 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brecca 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 Brecca 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 Brecca
The name Brecca is of Old English origin, derived from the word "brec," which means "breach" or "gap." This name first emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brecca can be found in the epic poem "Beowulf," which is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. In the poem, Brecca is mentioned as a legendary warrior who engaged in a swimming contest with Beowulf himself.
During the Middle Ages, the name Brecca was relatively uncommon, but it did appear in various historical records and documents. One notable figure was Brecca of Ely, a 12th-century Benedictine monk and historian who wrote a chronicle of the Abbey of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England.
In the 13th century, a prominent individual named Brecca de Wodeford was recorded as a landowner and knight in Somerset, England. He is mentioned in several medieval charters and legal documents from that time period.
Another historical figure bearing the name Brecca was a 14th-century English archer who fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. His name is recorded in the muster rolls of English soldiers during the campaign in Normandy.
Moving forward to the 16th century, there was a Brecca Denton, a merchant and ship owner from Bristol, England, who was involved in the early colonial trade with North America. Records show that he financed several voyages to the New World in the 1540s.
It's important to note that while the name Brecca has its roots in Old English, it fell out of widespread use after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, as many Anglo-Saxon names were replaced by Norman French and Latin names. However, it continued to be used sporadically throughout the centuries, particularly in certain regions of England.
People
Brecca + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brecca 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
Brecca: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brecca?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brecca 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Brecca a common name?
We classify Brecca as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brecca most popular?
The single biggest year for Brecca was 1974, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brecca is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Brecca in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brecca a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brecca 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 Brecca still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brecca 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 Brecca 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Brecca?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.