Brinna
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "one who burns brightly".
Name Census estimates that about 421 living Americans carry the first name Brinna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brinna today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brinna births was 2002 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brinna. 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
421
~ 1 in 814,143 Americans
Peak year
2002
31 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,709
Tracked since 1983
Census
Brinna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 832 people with the first name Brinna, which placed it at #14,214 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
#14,214
National first-name rank
People counted
832
832 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brinna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brinna is White at 59.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.1%) and Black (12.4%). 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 Brinna 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 Brinna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.1% · 492
- Hispanic or Latino22.1% · 184
- Black or African American12.4% · 103
- Two or more races4.1% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 8
Popularity
Brinna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brinna from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 180 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brinna 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 Brinna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brinnas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brinna
The name Brinna is believed to have its origins in Old Norse, the language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the Viking Age from around the 8th to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old Norse word "bryn," which means "armor" or "protection." This suggests that the name may have been given to children with the hope that they would be shielded from harm or danger.
The name Brinna is thought to have been in use among the Norse people as early as the 9th century AD. However, it is difficult to pinpoint the earliest recorded example of the name due to the limited written records from that era. One of the earliest mentions of the name can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of narratives that recount the lives and adventures of the Norse people during the Viking Age.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brinna. One of the most famous was Brinna Óðinsdóttir (c. 920 - 985), a Viking warrior and shieldmaiden who fought alongside her father, the legendary Óðinn, in numerous battles across Scandinavia. Her reputation for bravery and skill in combat earned her a place in Norse mythology, where she was revered as a symbol of strength and resilience.
Another notable figure was Brinna Þórisdóttir (1150 - 1220), a prominent skald (poet) in medieval Iceland. She was renowned for her eloquent and powerful verse, which often celebrated the exploits of Norse heroes and the beauty of the Icelandic landscape. Her works were widely circulated and admired, cementing her status as one of the most influential poets of her time.
In the 13th century, Brinna Haraldssdóttir (c. 1210 - 1280) was a respected healer and herbalist in Norway. She gained fame for her extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and her ability to cure a wide range of ailments. Her expertise was sought after by people from all walks of life, and she was revered for her compassion and dedication to helping others.
During the Age of Exploration, Brinna Eiríksdóttir (1475 - 1535) was a daring Icelandic navigator and explorer. She is believed to have accompanied her father, the renowned explorer Eiríkur Þorvaldsson, on several voyages to Greenland and North America. Her bravery and navigational skills were highly regarded, and she is credited with contributing to the mapping of previously uncharted territories.
In the 19th century, Brinna Jónsdóttir (1825 - 1910) was a prominent Icelandic educator and advocate for women's rights. She founded several schools for girls and fought tirelessly for equal educational opportunities for women. Her efforts helped pave the way for greater gender equality and empowerment in Iceland and beyond.
People
Brinna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brinna 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
Brinna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brinna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 421 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brinna 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 814,143 US residents.
Is Brinna a common name?
We classify Brinna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 430 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brinna most popular?
The single biggest year for Brinna was 2002, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brinna is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brinna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 832 people with the name Brinna, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,214 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 Brinna 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 Brinna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brinna appears almost entirely female. Of the 835 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Brinna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brinna is White at 59.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.1%) and Black (12.4%). 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 Brinna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brinna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.1% (492 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 Brinna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brinna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brinna 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 Brinna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brinna 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 Brinna 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 have the name Brinna?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.