Bren
A diminutive form of the Irish name Brendan, meaning "prince".
Name Census estimates that about 701 living Americans carry the first name Bren. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Bren today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bren births was 2008 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bren. 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 Bren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
701
~ 1 in 488,951 Americans
Peak year
2008
27 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,079
Tracked since 1956
Census
Bren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,160 people with the first name Bren, which placed it at #11,186 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
#11,186
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,160 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bren is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.6%) and Black (7.3%). 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 Bren 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 Bren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 854
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 100
- Black or African American7.3% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 55
- Two or more races4.7% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Bren
Bren is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 729 total registrations, 555 (76.1%) were male and 174 (23.9%) were female.
Bren as a male name
- Ranked #9,079 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (16 births)
Bren as a female name
- Ranked #13,885 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1999 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bren on both sides of the split. Of the 1,161 people counted with this name, 665 were male (57.3%) and 496 were female (42.7%).
Popularity
Bren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bren from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 190 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
Bren 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 Bren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bren
The name Bren is believed to have originated from the Celtic language, specifically from the Breton and Welsh regions of northwestern France and Wales. It is thought to be derived from the Old Celtic word "bren," meaning "hill" or "high place."
In ancient Celtic cultures, names often held deep significance and were closely tied to nature and the physical world. The name Bren may have been given to individuals born or residing in elevated areas, such as hills or mountains. Alternatively, it could have been used as a descriptive name for someone tall or imposing in stature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bren can be found in the medieval Welsh text known as the "Mabinogion," a collection of prose stories from the 11th to 13th centuries. The character Bran the Blessed, also known as Bran Fendigaid, is a prominent figure in this work and is portrayed as a legendary king of Britain.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bren. In the 6th century, Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484-577) was an Irish monk and explorer who is said to have undertaken a remarkable voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, possibly reaching North America. His name, Brénainn, is believed to be a variation of the name Bren.
Another historical figure associated with the name is Bren Seren (c. 1553-1607), a Welsh poet and writer who made significant contributions to Welsh literature during the Renaissance period. His works include religious poems, translations, and writings on Welsh history and culture.
During the 20th century, the name gained prominence with individuals such as Brendan Behan (1923-1964), an Irish novelist, poet, and playwright known for his works that explored Irish culture and identity. Brendan Bracken (1901-1958) was a British politician and close confidant of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, serving as Minister of Information during World War II.
Additionally, Brendan Gleeson (born 1955) is an acclaimed Irish actor known for his roles in films such as "Braveheart," "Gangs of New York," and the "Harry Potter" series. Brendan Fraser (born 1968) is a Canadian-American actor who rose to fame in the 1990s with roles in films like "The Mummy" and "George of the Jungle."
People
Bren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bren 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
Bren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 701 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bren 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 488,951 US residents.
Is Bren a common name?
We classify Bren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 729 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bren most popular?
The single biggest year for Bren was 2008, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bren is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,160 people with the name Bren, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,186 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 Bren 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 Bren?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bren on both sides of the split. Of the 1,161 people counted with this name, 665 were male (57.3%) and 496 were female (42.7%). 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 Bren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bren is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.6%) and Black (7.3%). 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 Bren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (854 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 Bren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bren a male name?
Yes, 76.1% of people registered as Bren 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 Bren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bren 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 Bren 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 Bren?
You can see how many people have the name Bren on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.