Brei
A masculine German name derived from Breit, meaning "broad" or "wide".
Name Census estimates that about 67 living Americans carry the first name Brei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brei today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brei births was 1996 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brei. 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 Brei. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
67
~ 1 in 5,115,736 Americans
Peak year
1996
9 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2008 SSA rank
#15,726
Tracked since 1977
Census
Brei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Brei, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brei is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Black (17.1%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Brei 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 Brei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 118
- Black or African American17.1% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 11
- Two or more races5.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 3
Popularity
Brei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brei from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 32 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Brei remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brei 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 Brei 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 Brei
The name Brei finds its origins in the ancient Gaelic language, with roots tracing back to the Celtic tribes of Ireland and Scotland in the 6th century AD. The name is derived from the word "breith," which means "to bear" or "to birth," suggesting a connection to fertility and new life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brei can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In this text, a chieftain named Brei mac Áedáin is mentioned as a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Dál Riata, which spanned parts of modern-day Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The name Brei also appears in several ancient Irish legends and folklore, often associated with characters imbued with strength, courage, and a connection to nature. In the 8th century Irish epic "The Cattle Raid of Cooley," one of the central characters is a warrior named Brei mac Fhearghusa, renowned for his skills in battle and his unwavering loyalty.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Brei gained popularity among the Celtic populations of the British Isles. One notable figure was Brei mac Maíl Choluim (1058-1093), a Scottish prince who played a significant role in the struggle for the Scottish throne during the late 11th century.
In the 13th century, a Welsh bard named Brei ap Rhys (1223-1284) gained fame for his intricate poetry and mastery of the Welsh language. His works are still celebrated today as a testament to the rich literary traditions of medieval Wales.
Another prominent individual with the name Brei was an Irish chieftain named Brei Ó Conchobhair (1370-1424), who led his clan in battles against English forces during the Norman invasion of Ireland. His legacy as a fierce warrior and defender of Irish sovereignty has been preserved in various historical accounts.
While the name Brei has faded in popularity over the centuries, it remains a testament to the rich cultural heritage of the Celtic peoples and their enduring impact on the histories of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
People
Brei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brei 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
Brei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 67 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brei 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 5,115,736 US residents.
Is Brei a common name?
We classify Brei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 70 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brei most popular?
The single biggest year for Brei was 1996, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brei is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Brei, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Brei 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 Brei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brei leans strongly female. 162 people counted with this name were female (95.9%), compared with 7 male bearers (4.1%). 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 Brei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brei is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Black (17.1%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Brei most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (118 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 Brei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brei 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 Brei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brei 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 Brei 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 named Brei?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.