Breda
A feminine name of English origin derived from the surname 'Broad'.
Name Census estimates that about 77 living Americans carry the first name Breda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Breda today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Breda births was 1962 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Breda. 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 Breda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Breda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
77
~ 1 in 4,451,355 Americans
Peak year
1962
9 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
1987 SSA rank
#9,981
Tracked since 1952
Census
Breda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 434 people with the first name Breda, which placed it at #22,808 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
#22,808
National first-name rank
People counted
434
434 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Breda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breda is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.6%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Breda 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 Breda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.7% · 324
- Hispanic or Latino13.6% · 59
- Black or African American9.2% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Breda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Breda from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 39 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Breda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Breda 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 Breda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bredas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Breda
The name Breda is believed to have originated from the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old Dutch and Old Saxon words "bred" or "brede," which meant "broad" or "wide." It was initially used as a descriptive name, likely referring to a person's physical stature or perhaps the broadness of their lands or influence.
The earliest recorded use of the name Breda can be traced back to the 7th century AD in the Netherlands and parts of modern-day Germany. It was initially a masculine name but later also adopted as a feminine name in some regions.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Breda was Saint Breda (c. 650 - c. 725), an Irish nun and missionary who founded several monasteries in the Netherlands and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the 11th century, Breda was the name of a prominent noble family in the Netherlands, which lent its name to the city of Breda. The city's coat of arms features a broad or wide shield, likely a reference to the name's meaning.
Another historical figure with the name Breda was Breda of Ardenne (c. 950 - c. 1010), a French noblewoman and the wife of Count Palatine Ezzo of Lotharingia, who played an influential role in the political affairs of the Holy Roman Empire during her time.
In the 13th century, Breda was the name of a noted Italian jurist and legal scholar known as Breda of Milan (c. 1210 - c. 1285), who contributed significantly to the development of canon law and the legal system of the time.
During the Renaissance period, Breda was the name of a renowned Italian painter and architect, Breda Ghisi (c. 1510 - c. 1575), who was known for his engravings and architectural designs, including the Church of San Rocco in Venice.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Breda was Breda Murphy (1910 - 1964), an Irish actress and singer who appeared in several films and stage productions in the mid-20th century.
People
Breda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Breda 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
Breda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Breda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 77 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Breda 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 4,451,355 US residents.
Is Breda a common name?
We classify Breda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Breda most popular?
The single biggest year for Breda was 1962, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Breda is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Breda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 434 people with the name Breda, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,808 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 Breda 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 Breda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Breda appears almost entirely female. Of the 429 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Breda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breda is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.6%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Breda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Breda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (324 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 Breda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Breda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Breda 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 Breda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Breda 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 Breda 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 are called Breda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.