Brelan
French masculine name derived from a gambling term for "three of a kind".
Name Census estimates that about 77 living Americans carry the first name Brelan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brelan today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brelan births was 2010 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brelan. 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 Brelan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
77
~ 1 in 4,451,355 Americans
Peak year
2010
8 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,626
Tracked since 1991
Census
Brelan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Brelan, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brelan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brelan is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Brelan 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 Brelan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.8% · 91
- White31.3% · 51
- Two or more races7.4% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
Popularity
Brelan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brelan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brelan 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 Brelan 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 Brelan
The given name Brelan originates from the French language and can be traced back to the early 18th century. It is derived from the French word "brelander," which means "to saunter" or "to wander aimlessly." The name's roots are believed to be connected to the nomadic lifestyle of certain groups in rural France during that period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brelan can be found in the writings of French author and philosopher, Voltaire, who mentioned a character named Brelan in his satirical work "Candide" published in 1759. This suggests that the name was already in use during the mid-18th century.
In the 19th century, the name gained some prominence with the birth of Brelan Durand (1812-1891), a French artist and illustrator renowned for his intricate etchings and woodcut prints. His works were widely celebrated during the Romantic era and are now held in prestigious art collections worldwide.
Another notable figure in history bearing the name Brelan was Brelan Montfort (1847-1923), a French explorer and adventurer who undertook several expeditions into the uncharted regions of Africa and the Middle East. His detailed accounts of these journeys were published in various travel memoirs and journals, providing valuable insights into the cultures and landscapes he encountered.
In the realm of literature, Brelan Leclaire (1889-1962) was a prominent French novelist and playwright whose works often explored themes of love, betrayal, and societal norms. His most celebrated work, "Les Amants Éternels" (The Eternal Lovers), published in 1928, received critical acclaim and was later adapted for the stage.
Lastly, the name Brelan was also carried by Brelan Rousseau (1921-1997), a French resistance fighter during World War II. Rousseau played a pivotal role in the underground resistance movement against the Nazi occupation, risking his life to assist in the escape and rescue of numerous Allied soldiers and civilians.
While the name Brelan may not be as common today, its rich history and origins in French culture make it a unique and intriguing choice for a given name, carrying with it a sense of wanderlust, artistic expression, and courage.
People
Brelan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brelan 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
Brelan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brelan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 77 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brelan 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 Brelan a common name?
We classify Brelan 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, 78 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brelan most popular?
The single biggest year for Brelan was 2010, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brelan is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brelan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Brelan, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Brelan 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 Brelan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Brelan on both sides of the split. Of the 162 people counted with this name, 122 were male (75.3%) and 40 were female (24.7%). 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 Brelan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brelan is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Brelan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Brelan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (91 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 Brelan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brelan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brelan in the SSA data are male. 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 Brelan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brelan 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 Brelan 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 have the name Brelan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.