Brigette
A feminine name derived from the Irish Gaelic word "brìgh" meaning strength or vigor.
Name Census estimates that about 5,183 living Americans carry the first name Brigette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brigette today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brigette births was 1968 (185 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brigette. 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
5.2K
~ 1 in 66,130 Americans
Peak year
1968
185 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,353
Tracked since 1953
Census
Brigette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,984 people with the first name Brigette, which placed it at #3,920 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
#3,920
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
4,984 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brigette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brigette is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.7%) and Black (15.2%). 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 Brigette 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 Brigette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.2% · 3,000
- Hispanic or Latino17.7% · 884
- Black or African American15.2% · 757
- Two or more races3.8% · 188
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 31
Popularity
Brigette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brigette from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,374 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brigette 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 Brigette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brigettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Brigette, while Colorado, Arizona, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 122 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brigette
The given name Brigette originates from the Celtic word "brig," which means "high" or "elevated." It is a feminine form of the name Brigid, which has its roots in ancient Irish and British culture, dating back to the 5th or 6th century AD.
Brigette was initially associated with the Irish goddess Brigid, who was revered as the patron saint of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. The name gained popularity in Christian contexts as it was adopted by Saint Brigid of Kildare, one of the most renowned Irish saints who lived in the 5th century.
Throughout history, variations of the name, such as Bridget, Brigid, and Brigitta, have been prevalent across various cultures. It has been particularly popular in Ireland, Scotland, and other Celtic regions, as well as in parts of Europe, especially in Scandinavia.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Brigette can be found in the 12th century, when it appeared in the Annals of Inisfallen, an Irish chronicle. During the Middle Ages, the name was commonly used in religious contexts, with various saints and nuns bearing the name.
Notable historical figures with the name Brigette include Saint Brigette of Sweden (1303-1373), a Swedish princess and mystic who founded the Brigittine Order of nuns. Brigette Bardot (born 1934) is a famous French actress, model, and animal rights activist who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s.
Other historical figures with the name Brigette include Brigette Gabriel (born 1964), a Lebanese-American author and political commentator; Brigette Lacombe (born 1950), a French photographer known for her portraits of celebrities; and Brigette Lin (born 1954), a Taiwanese actress and singer.
Throughout the centuries, the name Brigette has maintained its association with strength, resilience, and spirituality, reflecting its Celtic and religious origins. Its enduring popularity across various cultures and time periods highlights its timeless appeal and rich historical significance.
People
Brigette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brigette 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
Brigette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brigette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brigette 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 66,130 US residents.
Is Brigette a common name?
We classify Brigette as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,712 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brigette most popular?
The single biggest year for Brigette was 1968, when 185 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brigette is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brigette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,984 people with the name Brigette, or 1.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,920 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 Brigette 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 Brigette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brigette appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,984 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Brigette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brigette is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.7%) and Black (15.2%). 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 Brigette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brigette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (3,000 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 Brigette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brigette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brigette 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 Brigette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brigette 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 Brigette 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 called Brigette?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.