Brinton
From a surname derived from a place name, meaning "town on the burn".
Name Census estimates that about 665 living Americans carry the first name Brinton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brinton today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brinton births was 1984 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brinton. 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
665
~ 1 in 515,420 Americans
Peak year
1984
24 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,577
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Brinton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brinton from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 164 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brinton 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 Brinton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brintons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brinton
The name Brinton is believed to have originated from the Old English language, derived from the combination of the words "brin" (meaning "burned" or "fire") and "tun" (meaning "town" or "settlement"). This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a settlement or location that had been affected by a fire or burning event.
During the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, between the 5th and 11th centuries AD, personal names often reflected physical characteristics, occupations, or locations associated with individuals. As such, Brinton may have been used as a surname or a place name before becoming a given name.
The earliest recorded use of Brinton as a personal name dates back to the late 12th century, when it appeared in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire, England. These rolls were a record of financial accounts and transactions kept by the English Exchequer during the reign of King Henry II.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Brinton was Thomas Brinton, an English bishop born around 1370. He served as the Bishop of Rochester from 1419 until his death in 1389. Brinton was known for his involvement in ecclesiastical affairs and his contributions to the construction of Rochester Cathedral.
In the 15th century, another notable figure named Brinton was William Brinton, an English Lollard (follower of the reformist movement led by John Wycliffe). Brinton was active in propagating Lollard beliefs and teachings, which challenged the authority and practices of the Roman Catholic Church at the time.
During the 16th century, Daniel Brinton, born in 1537, was a prominent English mathematician and astronomer. He authored several works on mathematics, including "The Doctrine of the Sphere" and "The Complication of the Astronomical Rules," which contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge in his era.
In the 19th century, Daniel Garrison Brinton (1837-1899) was an American anthropologist and linguist. He studied and wrote extensively about the indigenous languages and cultures of the Americas, particularly those of Central America and Mexico. Brinton's works, such as "The Myths of the New World" and "The American Race," were influential in the field of anthropology during his time.
Another notable individual with the name Brinton was Willard Cope Brinton (1880-1957), an American painter and illustrator. He was known for his impressionist landscapes and portraits, as well as his illustrations for books and magazines. Brinton's works were exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout his career.
People
Brinton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brinton 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
Brinton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brinton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 665 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brinton 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 515,420 US residents.
Is Brinton a common name?
We classify Brinton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 805 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brinton most popular?
The single biggest year for Brinton was 1984, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brinton is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brinton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brinton in the SSA data are male. 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.