Brinsley
An English name derived from the place name Brinsley, potentially meaning "bright meadow" or "clearing".
Name Census estimates that about 175 living Americans carry the first name Brinsley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brinsley today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brinsley births was 2018 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brinsley. 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
175
~ 1 in 1,958,596 Americans
Peak year
2018
19 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,393
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Brinsley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brinsley 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 99 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Brinsley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brinsley 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 Brinsley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brinsleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brinsley
The given name Brinsley has its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the 9th century or earlier. It is derived from the Old English words "brin" meaning "burnt" and "leah" meaning "woodland clearing." The name was initially used to refer to a clearing or settlement in a burnt or charred area of a woodland.
In the early medieval period, Brinsley emerged as a locational surname in various parts of England, particularly in areas like Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The surname likely originated from places called Brinsley, such as the village of Brinsley in Nottinghamshire. Over time, the locational surname Brinsley evolved into a given name, reflecting the common practice of adopting surnames as first names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brinsley can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England conducted in 1086. The name appears as a place name and a surname, indicating its existence in the late 11th century. However, its use as a given name is not widely documented until the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Among the notable historical figures who bore the name Brinsley, the following individuals stand out:
1. Brinsley Butler (1579-1661), an English theologian and philosopher who served as the Headmaster of Coventry School.
2. Brinsley Norton (1630-1683), an English Puritan minister and author known for his work "The Orthodox Evangelist."
3. Brinsley Sheridan (1741-1816), an Irish satirist, playwright, and poet, best known for his plays "The Rivals" and "The School for Scandal."
4. Brinsley Marlay (1775-1853), an Irish politician and landowner who served as the Chief Secretary for Ireland.
5. Brinsley Nicholson (1824-1892), an English naval officer and Arctic explorer who participated in several search expeditions for Sir John Franklin.
While the name Brinsley has roots in Old English and was initially associated with places in England, it gained wider recognition and usage as a given name in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its popularity was likely influenced by notable individuals who bore the name, particularly in the literary and political spheres.
People
Brinsley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brinsley 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
Brinsley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brinsley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 175 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brinsley 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 1,958,596 US residents.
Is Brinsley a common name?
We classify Brinsley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 177 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brinsley most popular?
The single biggest year for Brinsley was 2018, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brinsley is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brinsley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brinsley 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.