Brianda
Of Celtic origin, meaning "exalted" or "virtuous".
Name Census estimates that about 1,911 living Americans carry the first name Brianda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brianda today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brianda births was 1992 (265 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brianda. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 179,359 Americans
Peak year
1992
265 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
1990 SSA rank
#6,961
Tracked since 1979
Census
Brianda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,238 people with the first name Brianda, which placed it at #6,968 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
#6,968
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,238 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brianda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brianda is Hispanic at 93.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Black (2.4%). 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 Brianda 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 Brianda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.7% · 2,098
- White3.3% · 73
- Black or African American2.4% · 54
- Two or more races0.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Brianda
Out of the 1,962 babies given the name Brianda since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Brianda as a male name
- Ranked #8,265 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1990 (5 births)
Brianda as a female name
- Ranked #6,961 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (265 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brianda appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,244 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Brianda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brianda from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,087 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
Brianda 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 Brianda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Briandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Brianda, while Florida, New York, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 269 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brianda
Brianda is a given name of Spanish origin, derived from the Germanic name Brianda or Brenda, which is believed to have originated from the Old Norse name Brandr, meaning "sword." The name traces its roots back to the medieval era in Spain and surrounding regions.
The earliest known use of the name Brianda can be found in historical records from the 12th and 13th centuries in Spain. It was a relatively common name among noble families and the aristocracy during this time period. The name's popularity likely stemmed from its association with Germanic warrior culture, as the sword symbolized strength and valor.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Brianda was Brianda de Cabrera (c. 1220-1275), a Spanish noblewoman and the wife of Álvaro Pérez de Castro, a prominent Castilian nobleman during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile. She played a significant role in the political affairs of her time and was known for her influence and advocacy for the rights of widows and orphans.
Another historical figure with the name Brianda was Brianda de Beaumont (c. 1292-1360), a French noblewoman and the wife of Walter V de Brienne, Duke of Athens. She was involved in the conflicts between the Duchy of Athens and the Principality of Achaea during the 14th century and played a crucial role in negotiating alliances and strategic marriages.
In the realm of literature, the name Brianda appears in the 13th-century Spanish epic poem "Cantar de Mio Cid," where a character named Brianda is mentioned as a member of the household of the legendary hero El Cid. This reference further highlights the name's historical roots in medieval Spain.
One of the most renowned individuals with the name Brianda was Brianda de Mendoza y Luna (c. 1475-1554), a Spanish noblewoman and the first wife of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a prominent statesman and diplomat during the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. She was highly regarded for her intelligence, cultural patronage, and involvement in political affairs.
Another noteworthy figure was Brianda de Velasco (c. 1590-1647), a Spanish nun and mystic who lived during the Golden Age of Spanish literature. She was known for her spiritual writings and her reputation for holiness, which led to her beatification by the Catholic Church in the 19th century.
People
Brianda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brianda 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
Brianda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brianda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,911 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brianda 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 179,359 US residents.
Is Brianda a common name?
We classify Brianda as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,962 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brianda most popular?
The single biggest year for Brianda was 1992, when 265 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brianda is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brianda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,238 people with the name Brianda, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,968 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 Brianda 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 Brianda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brianda appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,244 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Brianda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brianda is Hispanic at 93.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Black (2.4%). 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 Brianda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Brianda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (2,098 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 Brianda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brianda a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Brianda 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 Brianda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brianda 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 Brianda 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 common is the name Brianda?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Brianda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.