Bridgit
A feminine given name of Irish/Celtic origin meaning "exalted one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,165 living Americans carry the first name Bridgit. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bridgit today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bridgit births was 1966 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bridgit. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 294,210 Americans
Peak year
1966
41 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2016 SSA rank
#11,977
Tracked since 1955
Census
Bridgit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,175 people with the first name Bridgit, which placed it at #11,067 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
#11,067
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,175 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bridgit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bridgit is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Bridgit 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 Bridgit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 892
- Black or African American10.7% · 126
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 97
- Two or more races2.5% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 6
Popularity
Bridgit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bridgit from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 297 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Bridgit remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bridgit 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 Bridgit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bridgits live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Bridgit, while Texas, Minnesota, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bridgit
The name Bridgit is derived from the Irish Gaelic language and has its origins in ancient Celtic culture. The name likely comes from the Old Irish words "brig" or "bri," meaning strength or power, and "idt," which was a diminutive suffix. The original spelling was "Brighid," with the modern English spelling of "Bridgit" emerging later.
One of the earliest and most significant historical references to the name Bridgit comes from the ancient Celtic goddess Brighid, who was celebrated as the goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. Brighid was one of the most revered deities in ancient Irish mythology, and her name eventually transitioned into a popular given name for girls.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bridgit as a personal name dates back to the 5th century AD, with the birth of Saint Brigid of Kildare (c. 451-525). Saint Brigid was an Irish nun who founded several monasteries and is venerated as one of the patron saints of Ireland. Her name helped popularize the name Bridgit throughout Ireland and other parts of the British Isles.
Another notable figure in history with the name Bridgit was Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), a Swedish princess and founder of the Bridgettine Order of nuns. She was later canonized as Saint Bridget of Sweden and is widely revered in Sweden and other parts of Scandinavia.
The name Bridgit also appears in several ancient Irish texts and manuscripts, such as the Book of Leinster and the Book of Invasions, further solidifying its historical significance in Celtic culture.
Other famous individuals with the name Bridgit throughout history include:
1. Bridgit Borcher (c. 1500-1530), a German Protestant martyr executed during the Reformation.
2. Bridget Cleary (c. 1868-1895), an Irish woman who was killed in a brutal case of witch-burning in rural Ireland.
3. Bridget Boland (1913-1988), an Irish politician and the first woman to be elected to the Irish Senate.
4. Bridgit Mendler (born 1992), an American actress and singer best known for her role in the Disney Channel series "Good Luck Charlie."
5. Bridgit Zengeni (born 1980), a Zimbabwean professional golfer who has competed on the Ladies European Tour.
People
Bridgit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bridgit 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
Bridgit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bridgit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,165 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bridgit 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 294,210 US residents.
Is Bridgit a common name?
We classify Bridgit as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,275 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bridgit most popular?
The single biggest year for Bridgit was 1966, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bridgit is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bridgit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,175 people with the name Bridgit, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,067 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 Bridgit 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 Bridgit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bridgit appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,178 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 Bridgit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bridgit is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Bridgit most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bridgit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (892 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 Bridgit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bridgit a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bridgit 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 Bridgit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bridgit 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 Bridgit 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 Bridgit?
You can see how many people have the name Bridgit on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.