Brensen
Meaning "son of the burning fire", of uncertain origin.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Brensen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brensen today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brensen births was 2007 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brensen. 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 Brensen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2007
5 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2012 SSA rank
#12,541
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Brensen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brensen from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, 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
Brensen 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 Brensen 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 Brensen
The name Brensen is believed to have originated from Old Norse, a North Germanic language spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their descendants during the Viking Age, which spanned from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries. It is thought to be a combination of the Old Norse words "bren" meaning "fire" or "flame," and "sen" which is a diminutive suffix, suggesting a connection to the concept of a small or diminutive flame.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brensen can be found in the Icelandic sagas, a collection of narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries, which recount the lives and adventures of Norse settlers in Iceland. In these sagas, Brensen is mentioned as the name of a minor character, a farmer who lived in the northern regions of the island.
During the medieval period, the name Brensen appeared sporadically in various parts of Scandinavia, particularly in Denmark and Norway. One notable bearer of the name was Brensen Halvorsen, a Norwegian merchant and explorer who is believed to have sailed to Greenland and parts of North America in the late 15th century, though records of his voyages are scarce.
In the 16th century, a German scholar and theologian named Brensen Eckholt gained recognition for his contributions to the Protestant Reformation. Born in 1520 in the city of Lübeck, Eckholt was a student of Martin Luther and played a significant role in spreading the reformist ideas throughout northern Germany and parts of Scandinavia.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Brensen Thorvaldsen, a Danish sculptor and artist, left a lasting impact on the neoclassical art movement. Born in 1768 in Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen's works, including sculptures and reliefs, can be found in various museums and public spaces across Europe, particularly in Denmark and Italy, where he spent a significant portion of his career.
In the realm of literature, Brensen Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and writer, is remembered for his profound insights into existentialism and Christian ethics. Born in 1813 in Copenhagen, Kierkegaard's works, such as "Fear and Trembling" and "The Sickness Unto Death," have had a lasting influence on Western philosophy and literature.
While the name Brensen has always been more prevalent in Scandinavian countries, it has also found its way into other parts of the world, often carried by individuals with Nordic heritage or those inspired by the name's unique sound and potential symbolic meaning.
People
Brensen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brensen 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
Brensen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brensen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brensen 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 Brensen a common name?
We classify Brensen 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 Brensen most popular?
The single biggest year for Brensen was 2007, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brensen is about 16 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 Brensen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brensen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brensen 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 Brensen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brensen 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 Brensen 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 have the name Brensen?
See how many people have the name Brensen on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.