Brinlee
A feminine name of American origin meaning "a beautiful meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 2,712 living Americans carry the first name Brinlee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brinlee today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brinlee births was 2017 (181 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brinlee. 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
- • Brinlee is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 126,384 Americans
Peak year
2017
181 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,746
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Brinlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brinlee from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,485 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Brinlee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brinlee 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 Brinlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brinlees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Utah, Texas, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Brinlee, while West Virginia, Washington, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brinlee
The name Brinlee is a relatively modern invention, with no clear origins in any particular language or culture. It appears to be a combination of the more traditional names Brin and Lee, which themselves have roots in different linguistic backgrounds.
The name Brin is thought to derive from the Celtic word "bryn," meaning hill or mound. This root can be traced back to the ancient Celtic languages spoken in parts of Europe, including Britain and Ireland. The name Lee, on the other hand, has its origins in the Old English word "leah," which referred to a clearing or meadow in a forest.
Despite its recent creation, the name Brinlee has gained some popularity, particularly in the United States and other English-speaking countries. However, there are no known historical references or significant figures from the past who bore this name.
It is worth noting that the name Brinlee is often associated with the broader trend of creating unique and unconventional names by combining elements from different sources. This trend has gained momentum in recent decades, as parents seek to give their children distinctive names that stand out from traditional options.
While the name Brinlee may lack a deep historical background, it reflects the ever-evolving nature of naming practices and the desire to create new and meaningful names for the next generation.
People
Brinlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brinlee 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
Brinlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brinlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,712 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brinlee 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 126,384 US residents.
Is Brinlee a common name?
We classify Brinlee 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, 2,736 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brinlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Brinlee was 2017, when 181 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brinlee is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brinlee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brinlee 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.
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.