Brena
A feminine name derived from the Spanish word "brena" meaning heather.
Name Census estimates that about 758 living Americans carry the first name Brena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brena today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brena births was 2007 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brena. 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
758
~ 1 in 452,183 Americans
Peak year
2007
36 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,070
Tracked since 1950
Census
Brena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 838 people with the first name Brena, which placed it at #14,152 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
#14,152
National first-name rank
People counted
838
838 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brena is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.8%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Brena 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 Brena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.4% · 523
- Black or African American14.8% · 124
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 109
- Two or more races4.9% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 13
Popularity
Brena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brena 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 226 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
Brena 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 Brena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brena
The name Brena is believed to have its origins in the Lombardic language, which was spoken by the Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled a significant part of the Italian Peninsula from the 6th to the 8th century. The name is thought to be derived from the word "brünne," which means "breastplate" or "coat of mail" in Old High German.
During the Middle Ages, the name Brena was primarily used in northern Italy, particularly in the regions that were once part of the Lombard kingdom. It is possible that the name was initially given to individuals who were associated with the production or use of armor and weaponry, as the name's connection to the word "brünne" suggests.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brena can be found in a document from the 12th century, which mentions a nobleman named Brena de Monferrato, who lived in the region of Monferrato in northwestern Italy. However, it is important to note that historical records from this period are often incomplete, and there may have been earlier instances of the name that have not been preserved.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brena. One of the most famous was Brena di Svevia (1205-1235), a German princess who married Fernando III, the King of Castile and Leon. Another notable figure was Brena Agliardi (1827-1904), an Italian painter and engraver known for her religious works and landscapes.
In the 14th century, a Franciscan friar named Brena da Gubbio (c. 1300-1370) gained recognition for his writings on spiritual matters and his contributions to the religious life of the time. Additionally, Brena Vecchietti (1551-1629), an Italian noblewoman and writer, was known for her poetry and her patronage of the arts.
Lastly, Brena Buzzati (1876-1956), an Italian writer and journalist, is remembered for his work as a correspondent during World War I and his contributions to various literary magazines and newspapers.
While the name Brena has its roots in the Lombardic language and the history of northern Italy, it has since spread to other parts of the world, although its usage remains relatively rare compared to other names.
People
Brena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brena 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
Brena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 758 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brena 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 452,183 US residents.
Is Brena a common name?
We classify Brena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 794 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brena most popular?
The single biggest year for Brena was 2007, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brena is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 838 people with the name Brena, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,152 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 Brena 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 Brena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brena appears almost entirely female. Of the 832 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Brena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brena is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.8%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Brena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (523 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 Brena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brena 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 Brena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brena 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 Brena 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 Brena?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.