Briseis
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "extremely valuable".
Name Census estimates that about 1,340 living Americans carry the first name Briseis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Briseis today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Briseis births was 2006 (100 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Briseis. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Briseis with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Briseis is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 255,787 Americans
Peak year
2006
100 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,564
Tracked since 2000
Census
Briseis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 934 people with the first name Briseis, which placed it at #13,065 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
#13,065
National first-name rank
People counted
934
934 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
66.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Briseis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Briseis is Hispanic at 66.2%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Briseis 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 Briseis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino66.2% · 618
- White17.5% · 163
- Black or African American5.0% · 47
- Two or more races5.0% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 27
Popularity
Briseis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Briseis 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 709 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
Briseis 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 Briseis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Briseis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Briseis, while Illinois, Colorado, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 96 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Briseis
The name Briseis has its origins in ancient Greek mythology and literature. It is derived from the Greek word "briseus," which means "to be weighed down" or "to be oppressed." The name first appears in Homer's epic poem, the Iliad, where Briseis is a captive woman awarded to the Greek hero Achilles as a prize of war.
In the Iliad, Briseis is described as a beautiful woman from the city of Lyrnessus, which was sacked by the Achaeans during the Trojan War. After her family was killed and her city was destroyed, Briseis was taken as a concubine by Achilles. However, Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, later took Briseis for himself, leading to a quarrel with Achilles that had significant consequences for the war's outcome.
The name Briseis became associated with the themes of captivity, loss, and resilience in the face of adversity, as portrayed in the Iliad. Although Briseis herself was a fictional character, her name gained recognition and became a part of the cultural heritage of ancient Greece.
Throughout history, the name Briseis has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Briseis of Cyzicus (fl. 4th century BC), a Greek philosopher and follower of Plato who wrote treatises on various philosophical subjects.
Another prominent figure was Briseis of Macedon (c. 310-270 BC), a Macedonian princess and daughter of King Antipater. She was married to Demetrius I Poliorcetes, a powerful Macedonian ruler and one of the successors of Alexander the Great.
In the 18th century, Briseis Hopton (1706-1765) was an English writer and translator who published works on religion and philosophy. Her most notable work was a translation of the French philosopher René Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy.
More recently, Briseis Mendoza (1930-2005) was a Mexican painter and sculptor known for her vibrant and colorful works that celebrated the indigenous cultures of Mexico. Her art was featured in numerous exhibitions throughout her career.
Lastly, Briseis Mavrakis (born 1964) is a Greek-American composer and music producer who has worked with several renowned artists, including Sting and Shakira. She has received multiple Grammy nominations for her contributions to various albums and soundtracks.
People
Briseis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Briseis 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
Briseis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Briseis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,340 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Briseis 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 255,787 US residents.
Is Briseis a common name?
We classify Briseis as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,352 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Briseis most popular?
The single biggest year for Briseis was 2006, when 100 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Briseis is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Briseis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 934 people with the name Briseis, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,065 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 Briseis 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 Briseis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Briseis appears almost entirely female. Of the 932 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Briseis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Briseis is Hispanic at 66.2%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Briseis most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Briseis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.2% (618 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 Briseis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Briseis a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Briseis 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 Briseis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Briseis 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 Briseis 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 Briseis?
See how many Americans are named Briseis on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.