Brida
A feminine Celtic name meaning "exalted" or "lofty".
Name Census estimates that about 58 living Americans carry the first name Brida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brida today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brida births was 2022 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brida. 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 Brida. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
58
~ 1 in 5,909,558 Americans
Peak year
2022
17 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,351
Tracked since 2019
Popularity
Brida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brida from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 51 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
Brida 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 Brida 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 Brida
The name Brida finds its origins in the Scandinavian languages, particularly Swedish and Norwegian. It is derived from the Old Norse word "brið," meaning "bride" or "betrothed woman." The name gained prominence during the Viking era, which spanned from the late 8th century to the 11th century.
Brida was a popular name among the Norse people, who celebrated the institution of marriage and the role of the bride in their cultural traditions. The name carried connotations of beauty, purity, and the promise of new beginnings. It was often given to daughters with the hope that they would find happiness and fulfillment in their future marriages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brida can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of literary works that document the lives and adventures of the Norse settlers in Iceland. The name appears in the Saga of Njáll, written in the 13th century, where a character named Brida is mentioned as the wife of a prominent chieftain.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brida. In the 11th century, Brida Tordardotter was a Swedish noblewoman and the wife of King Inge the Elder, who ruled Sweden from 1079 to 1084. Another historical figure, Brida Halvorsdatter (1642-1715), was a Norwegian landowner and one of the wealthiest women in Norway during her lifetime.
In the literary world, Brida Andrén (1891-1981) was a Swedish author and playwright who gained recognition for her works exploring themes of love, relationships, and the complexities of human emotions. Her play "Kyssen" (The Kiss) remains a celebrated piece of Swedish theater.
Moving to the realm of academia, Brida Kulich (1923-2005) was a Ukrainian-American mathematician and computer scientist. She made significant contributions to the field of numerical analysis and was a pioneer in the development of computer algorithms for solving partial differential equations.
Brida Foyn (1936-2018) was a Norwegian actress and director, renowned for her work in both theater and film. She received critical acclaim for her performances in productions such as "Hedda Gabler" and "The Wild Duck," and was awarded the prestigious Amanda Award for her contributions to Norwegian cinema.
People
Brida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brida 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
Brida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 58 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brida 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 5,909,558 US residents.
Is Brida a common name?
We classify Brida as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 58 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brida most popular?
The single biggest year for Brida was 2022, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brida is about 4 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 Brida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brida 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 Brida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brida 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 Brida 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 are named Brida?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.