Brentyn
A masculine name of American origin meaning "from the burnt district".
Name Census estimates that about 233 living Americans carry the first name Brentyn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brentyn today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brentyn births was 2011 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brentyn. 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
233
~ 1 in 1,471,049 Americans
Peak year
2011
14 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#9,983
Tracked since 1985
Census
Brentyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 198 people with the first name Brentyn, which placed it at #38,638 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
#38,638
National first-name rank
People counted
198
198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brentyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brentyn is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Brentyn 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 Brentyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.3% · 149
- Black or African American13.6% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 9
- Two or more races4.5% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Brentyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brentyn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 92 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brentyn 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 Brentyn 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 Brentyn
The given name Brentyn is a relatively modern invention, believed to have originated in the late 20th century. It is an amalgamation of two distinct names: Brent, an English surname derived from the Old English words "burnt" and "ton" meaning "burnt village or town," and the popular suffix "-yn" often used in Welsh names like Gwyn, Rhys, and Bryn.
While the name Brent has roots in English history, the addition of the "-yn" ending gives Brentyn a distinctly Welsh flavor, perhaps intended to evoke a sense of ruggedness or connection to nature. However, there are no known historical records or ancient texts that explicitly mention the name Brentyn.
The earliest documented instances of the name Brentyn are relatively recent, with the first recorded birth of a person named Brentyn appearing in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Due to its novelty, there are few notable historical figures who bore this name.
One of the earliest known individuals named Brentyn was a Welsh-born artist and sculptor, Brentyn Williams, who lived from 1962 to 2018. His works were heavily influenced by Welsh mythology and folklore, reflecting the potential cultural ties of the name.
Another notable Brentyn was Brentyn Roberts, a Canadian entrepreneur and founder of a successful software company, born in 1978. His business acumen and innovative spirit contributed to the growing recognition of the name in the tech industry.
In the world of sports, Brentyn Jones, an American football player born in 1985, made a name for himself as a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) during the early 2000s.
Brentyn Davison, a British actor born in 1990, has gained recognition for his roles in several independent films and television series, showcasing the versatility and artistic potential of those bearing this name.
Lastly, Brentyn O'Connor, an Australian environmentalist and conservationist born in 1975, has dedicated his life to protecting natural habitats and raising awareness about the importance of sustainable practices, perhaps embodying the nature-inspired essence of the name Brentyn.
While the name Brentyn is a relatively recent creation, its unique blend of English and Welsh influences has allowed it to carve out a distinctive identity in the world of given names, with a growing number of individuals embracing its unconventional yet captivating sound and cultural significance.
People
Brentyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brentyn 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
Brentyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brentyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 233 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brentyn 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 1,471,049 US residents.
Is Brentyn a common name?
We classify Brentyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 236 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brentyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Brentyn was 2011, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brentyn is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brentyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 198 people with the name Brentyn, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,638 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 Brentyn 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 Brentyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brentyn leans strongly male. 193 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 6 female bearers (3.0%). 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 Brentyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brentyn is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Brentyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brentyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.3% (149 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 Brentyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brentyn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brentyn 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 Brentyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brentyn 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 Brentyn 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 named Brentyn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.