Breindel
A feminine Yiddish name meaning "little fire" or "spark".
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Breindel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Breindel today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Breindel births was 2014 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Breindel. 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
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
2014
16 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,722
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Breindel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Breindel from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 92 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Breindel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Breindel 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 Breindel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Breindels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Breindel
The name Breindel is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, with no clear consensus among scholars about its linguistic roots or cultural background. Some theories suggest it may be derived from an Old Germanic or Scandinavian language, potentially related to words meaning "broad" or "wide," but these connections are tenuous at best.
Despite its obscure origins, there are a few notable historical figures who bore this uncommon name. One of the earliest recorded instances is Breindel of Marburg, a 13th-century German mystic and Beguine who wrote extensively on spiritual matters and is venerated by some Christian traditions.
In the 16th century, Breindel Anliker was a Swiss heroine renowned for her bravery during the Swabian War, when she is said to have rallied the women of her village to defend against invading Swabian forces. Her exploits were celebrated in local folklore and literature.
Jumping ahead to the 19th century, Breindel Nansen was a Norwegian painter and artist, known for her landscapes and portraits capturing the rugged beauty of her homeland. She was active in the latter half of the 1800s and helped pave the way for later generations of female artists.
Another figure of note is Breindel Kastenbaum, a Polish-born author and Holocaust survivor who documented her harrowing experiences in the ghettos and concentration camps during World War II. Her memoir, "Surviving the Holocaust," published in the 1960s, is a powerful testament to human resilience and the horrors of the Nazi regime.
Finally, in the realm of literature, there is Breindel Roskies, a Canadian writer and academic who has published extensively on Yiddish literature and culture. Her works have shed light on this rich literary tradition and its significance in the Jewish diaspora experience.
While the name Breindel remains relatively uncommon, these individuals have left their mark on various fields, from spirituality and art to literature and history, preserving the legacy of this enigmatic moniker across different eras and cultures.
People
Breindel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Breindel 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
Breindel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Breindel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Breindel 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Breindel a common name?
We classify Breindel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 210 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Breindel most popular?
The single biggest year for Breindel was 2014, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Breindel is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Breindel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Breindel 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.
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.