Breon
A unisex name of unknown meaning and origin.
Name Census estimates that about 2,658 living Americans carry the first name Breon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Breon today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Breon births was 1994 (119 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Breon. 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
2.7K
~ 1 in 128,952 Americans
Peak year
1994
119 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,323
Tracked since 1966
Census
Breon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,888 people with the first name Breon, which placed it at #7,864 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
#7,864
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,888 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Breon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breon is Black at 86.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and White (4.8%). 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 Breon 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 Breon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.0% · 1,623
- Two or more races5.3% · 100
- White4.8% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Breon
Breon leans heavily male at 89.4% of total registrations, but 290 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Breon as a male name
- Ranked #4,323 in 2024
- 24 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (107 births)
Breon as a female name
- Ranked #17,007 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1992 (20 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Breon leans strongly male. 1,584 people counted with this name were male (84.2%), compared with 298 female bearers (15.8%).
Popularity
Breon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Breon from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 950 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Breon 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 Breon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Breons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Florida, Virginia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Breon, while Missouri, Louisiana, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Breon
The name Breon has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the word "brun," which means "brown" or "dark-haired." It is believed to have emerged as a given name during the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century.
Historically, the name Breon was most commonly found in regions of France, particularly in the northern and central areas. It was often used as a descriptive name, referring to someone with a darker complexion or hair color, which was considered a desirable trait during that era.
In terms of historical references, the name Breon does not appear to have been explicitly mentioned in any major ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, there are records of individuals bearing this name in various historical documents and records from the Middle Ages onwards.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Breon can be found in the 14th century, when a certain Breon de Villiers was documented as a landowner in the Île-de-France region of northern France. Another notable figure was Breon de Commines, a French nobleman and military commander who lived during the 15th century and served under King Louis XI.
In the 16th century, Breon de la Tour was a French Protestant nobleman who played a significant role in the French Wars of Religion. He was a staunch supporter of the Huguenot cause and fought alongside Henry of Navarre, who later became King Henry IV of France.
Moving forward to the 17th century, Breon de Lauzun was a French courtier and military officer who served under King Louis XIV. He gained notoriety for his involvement in various court intrigues and romantic affairs.
Another notable figure was Breon de Bouillon, a French architect and engineer who lived in the 18th century. He was renowned for his work on several notable buildings and fortifications in various parts of France.
While the name Breon may not be as common today as it once was, it has left its mark on history through the lives and accomplishments of these individuals and others who bore this unique and distinctive name.
People
Breon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Breon 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
Breon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Breon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,658 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Breon 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 128,952 US residents.
Is Breon a common name?
We classify Breon as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,725 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Breon most popular?
The single biggest year for Breon was 1994, when 119 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Breon is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Breon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,888 people with the name Breon, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,864 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 Breon 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 Breon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Breon leans strongly male. 1,584 people counted with this name were male (84.2%), compared with 298 female bearers (15.8%). 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 Breon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breon is Black at 86.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and White (4.8%). 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 Breon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Breon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.0% (1,623 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 Breon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Breon a male name?
Yes, 89.4% of people registered as Breon 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 Breon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Breon 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 Breon 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 share the name Breon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.