Brinnley
A feminine name of Modern English origin meaning "from the burnt meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 378 living Americans carry the first name Brinnley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brinnley today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brinnley births was 2018 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brinnley. 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
378
~ 1 in 906,758 Americans
Peak year
2018
34 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,161
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Brinnley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brinnley from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 228 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Brinnley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brinnley 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 Brinnley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brinnleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brinnley
The name Brinnley is a relatively modern name with origins that can be traced back to the late 19th century. It is believed to be a variant of the Welsh name Bryn, which means "hill" or "mound". The addition of the suffix "-ley" likely derived from the Old English word "leah", meaning "meadow" or "clearing".
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Brinnley can be found in the 1881 census records of England and Wales, where it appears as a surname. However, its use as a given name is thought to have emerged in the early 20th century, possibly as a way to create a more unique and distinctive name.
While the name Brinnley does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it may have been influenced by the popularity of Welsh names during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This period saw a resurgence of interest in Welsh culture and language, leading to the creation of new names or the revitalization of existing ones.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Brinnley was Brinnley Roberts (1888-1962), a Welsh actor and comedian who appeared in several films and stage productions during the early 20th century. Another early bearer of the name was Brinnley Venables (1900-1988), a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Southport from 1945 to 1950.
In more recent times, Brinnley Hindley (born 1944) is an Australian politician who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1988 to 2003. Brinnley Browne (1934-2016) was a British actress known for her roles in television shows such as "Doctor Who" and "Coronation Street".
Brinnley Midgley (born 1978) is a British cyclist who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She won a silver medal in the women's team pursuit event.
While the name Brinnley may not have a long and storied history, its unique blend of Welsh and English influences has contributed to its growing popularity as a given name in recent decades.
People
Brinnley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brinnley 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
Brinnley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brinnley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brinnley 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 906,758 US residents.
Is Brinnley a common name?
We classify Brinnley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 381 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brinnley most popular?
The single biggest year for Brinnley was 2018, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brinnley is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Brinnley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brinnley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brinnley 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 Brinnley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brinnley 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 Brinnley 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Brinnley?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Brinnley, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.