Bremen
A German place name derived from the Low German words "brem" (edge) and "an" (marsh).
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Bremen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bremen today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bremen births was 2015 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bremen. 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 Bremen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2015
5 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,509
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Bremen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bremen from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 5 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
Bremen 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 Bremen 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 Bremen
The given name Bremen is of German origin and has its roots in the medieval period. Its earliest known usage can be traced back to the 11th century in the northern German city of Bremen, which was a prominent trading hub in the Hanseatic League.
Bremen is believed to be derived from the Old Saxon words "brem" or "brem-en," which referred to a flat, marshy area or a place near the marshes. The city of Bremen was situated near the marshlands along the Weser River, which may have influenced the naming of the settlement and subsequently the name itself.
One of the earliest notable historical references to the name Bremen can be found in the "Annals of Saxony," a chronicle written in the 11th century by the monk Widukind of Corvey. This text mentions the city of Bremen and its importance as a center of trade and commerce.
Over the centuries, the name Bremen has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded figures with this name was Bremen Greveraden (born around 1180), a German merchant and member of the influential Greveraden family from Bremen.
Another significant figure was Burchard of Bremen (1028-1109), a German historian and ecclesiastical writer who served as the Bishop of Bremen. He is best known for his work "Chronicon Slavorum," which documented the history of the Slavic peoples in northern Germany.
In the 16th century, the name Bremen gained prominence with the humanist and reformer Johann Bremensis (1487-1537), who was born in Bremen and played a crucial role in the Protestant Reformation in northern Germany.
Moving forward, one cannot ignore the contributions of the German mathematician and astronomer Johann Bremiker (1501-1567), who was born in Bremen and made significant advancements in the field of celestial mechanics.
Lastly, a more recent historical figure with the name Bremen was the German poet and writer Friedrich Adolf Bremen (1826-1899), who was born in the city of Bremen and is known for his works depicting the life and culture of the region.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the given name Bremen, which has its origins deeply rooted in the medieval German city and its surrounding areas.
People
Bremen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bremen 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
Bremen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bremen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bremen 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Bremen a common name?
We classify Bremen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bremen most popular?
The single biggest year for Bremen was 2015, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bremen is about 7 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 Bremen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bremen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bremen 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 Bremen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bremen 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 Bremen 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 Bremen?
Find out how many Americans are named Bremen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.