Brinn
A unisex name of Irish origin meaning "drop, vigor, or virtuous".
Name Census estimates that about 600 living Americans carry the first name Brinn. It is a predominantly female name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Brinn today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brinn births was 2012 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brinn. 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
600
~ 1 in 571,257 Americans
Peak year
2012
36 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
1997 SSA rank
#9,450
Tracked since 1980
Census
Brinn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 692 people with the first name Brinn, which placed it at #16,339 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
#16,339
National first-name rank
People counted
692
692 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brinn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brinn is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Brinn 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 Brinn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.5% · 592
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 34
- Two or more races4.5% · 31
- Black or African American3.0% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Brinn
Brinn leans heavily female at 97.5% of total registrations, but 15 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brinn as a male name
- Ranked #9,450 in 1997
- 5 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1983 (5 births)
Brinn as a female name
- Ranked #12,355 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (36 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brinn leans strongly female. 603 people counted with this name were female (87.5%), compared with 86 male bearers (12.5%).
Popularity
Brinn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brinn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 206 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brinn 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 Brinn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brinns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Brinn, while Washington, Minnesota, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brinn
The given name Brinn has its origins in ancient Celtic languages, with roots tracing back to the Brittonic branch of the Insular Celtic linguistic group. The name is believed to have emerged during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 7th centuries CE, in regions encompassing modern-day Wales, Cornwall, and parts of northern France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brinn can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional medieval Welsh literature. In these texts, Brinn is mentioned as the name of a legendary figure, a warrior-prince from the kingdom of Gwynedd. However, the historical accuracy of this reference is uncertain, as the Triads often blended fact and fiction.
In the centuries that followed, the name Brinn appeared sporadically in various historical records and chronicles from the Celtic regions. One notable individual bearing this name was Brinn ap Gruffydd, a 12th-century Welsh nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the ongoing conflicts between the Welsh princes and the Norman invaders.
Another historical figure named Brinn was a 14th-century Irish monk and scribe from the monastery of Clonmacnoise. His meticulous work in transcribing and preserving ancient manuscripts has been praised by scholars studying the literature and language of medieval Ireland.
Moving forward in time, Brinn Bevan was a 16th-century Welsh bard and poet who gained recognition for his intricate bardic compositions and his contributions to the preservation of Welsh literary traditions.
In the 18th century, Brinn Owain was a renowned Welsh artist and engraver, celebrated for his detailed illustrations of landscapes and architectural landmarks throughout Wales. His works have become invaluable historical records of the country's cultural heritage.
While the name Brinn has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its Celtic roots and association with figures from various fields have contributed to its enduring legacy and cultural significance in the regions where it originated.
People
Brinn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brinn 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
Brinn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brinn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 600 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brinn 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 571,257 US residents.
Is Brinn a common name?
We classify Brinn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 611 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brinn most popular?
The single biggest year for Brinn was 2012, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brinn is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brinn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 692 people with the name Brinn, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,339 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 Brinn 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 Brinn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brinn leans strongly female. 603 people counted with this name were female (87.5%), compared with 86 male bearers (12.5%). 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 Brinn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brinn is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Brinn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brinn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (592 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 Brinn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brinn a female name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Brinn 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 Brinn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brinn 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 Brinn 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 named Brinn?
Find out how many people share the name Brinn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.