Brenan
A Gaelic name meaning "descendant of the freckled one".
Name Census estimates that about 816 living Americans carry the first name Brenan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brenan today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brenan births was 2009 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brenan. 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
816
~ 1 in 420,042 Americans
Peak year
2009
42 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,862
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Brenan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brenan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 296 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
Brenan 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 Brenan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brenans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Brenan, while Utah, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brenan
The name Brenan is derived from the Irish Gaelic word "bren," which means "rain" or "drop." This name has its origins in the ancient Celtic cultures of Ireland and Scotland, where it was likely first used as a descriptive name for someone who lived near a rainy area or was born during a particularly wet season.
The earliest recorded use of the name Brenan dates back to the 6th century in Ireland, where it was mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. During this time period, the name was primarily concentrated in the northern regions of Ireland and parts of Scotland.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Brenan was Saint Brenan of Clonfert, an Irish monk and scholar who lived in the 6th century. He is renowned for founding the monastic school of Clonfert and for his contributions to the preservation of Irish scholarship and literature during the Middle Ages.
In the 12th century, a man named Brenan O'Rourke was recorded as a prominent chieftain and military leader in the Irish annals. He played a significant role in the wars between the various Irish clans during this turbulent period of Irish history.
Another notable figure with the name Brenan was Sir Brenan O'Reilly, an Irish soldier and nobleman who fought alongside the English forces during the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century. Despite his Irish heritage, he was knighted by the English monarchy for his military service.
In the 19th century, Brenan Behan, an Irish playwright and novelist, gained recognition for his works that explored the struggles of the working-class in Dublin. His plays, such as "The Quare Fellow" and "The Hostage," became popular in the mid-20th century and helped to establish him as a significant figure in Irish literature.
Finally, one of the most recent notable individuals with the name Brenan was Brenan Naiman, an American professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. He was known for his high-flying maneuvers and held several championship titles during his career.
People
Brenan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brenan 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
Brenan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brenan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 816 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brenan 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 420,042 US residents.
Is Brenan a common name?
We classify Brenan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 833 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brenan most popular?
The single biggest year for Brenan was 2009, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brenan is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brenan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brenan 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.
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.