Bristol
A unisex name of Old English origin meaning "place at the bridge".
Name Census estimates that about 11,096 living Americans carry the first name Bristol. It is a predominantly female name (95.0% of registrations). The average person named Bristol today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bristol births was 2019 (801 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bristol. 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.
Key insights
- • Bristol is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,890 Americans
Peak year
2019
801 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#635
Tracked since 1915
Census
Bristol in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,633 people with the first name Bristol, which placed it at #2,952 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
#2,952
National first-name rank
People counted
7.6K
7,633 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bristol
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bristol is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Bristol 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 Bristol at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.9% · 6,782
- Two or more races3.9% · 301
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 290
- Black or African American1.9% · 148
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 90
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Bristol
Bristol leans heavily female at 95.0% of total registrations, but 565 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bristol as a male name
- Ranked #9,083 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (40 births)
Bristol as a female name
- Ranked #635 in 2024
- 463 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (788 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bristol leans strongly female. 7,137 people counted with this name were female (93.6%), compared with 492 male bearers (6.4%).
Popularity
Bristol: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bristol from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,922 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bristol remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bristol 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 Bristol during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bristols live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Bristol, while Vermont, New Mexico, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 211 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bristol
The name Bristol is an English place name derived from the city of Bristol in southwest England. It is thought to originate from the Old English words "brycg" meaning bridge, and "stow" meaning place or settlement, referring to the area around the bridge across the River Avon.
Bristol was an important port city and center of trade and commerce during the medieval period. The name gained prominence as the city grew in significance, and it began to be used as a given name, particularly for boys born in or around Bristol.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bristol dates back to the 14th century. In 1385, a man named Bristol Digon was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, which were administrative records of the county.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bristol. One of the most famous was Bristol Leigh, an English actor and playwright who lived from 1619 to 1679. He was a prominent figure in the Restoration theatre scene and wrote several successful plays.
Another notable Bristol was Bristol Braithwaite (1723-1788), an English Quaker minister and writer. He was widely respected for his religious writings and his efforts to promote education and social reforms.
In the 19th century, Bristol Marunde (1829-1897) was a German-American artist and engraver known for his intricate woodcuts and engravings depicting scenes of American life.
Bristol Brewster (1867-1946) was an American businessman and industrialist who played a significant role in the development of the automotive industry. He was a co-founder of the Brewster & Co. carriage-making company, which later transitioned into producing luxury automobiles.
Bristol Leigh Burlingham (1888-1944) was a British painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and depictions of rural life in England. His works are held in several notable collections, including the Tate Gallery in London.
The name Bristol, while not as common as some other English names, has a rich history and significance rooted in the city's importance as a center of trade and commerce. Its use as a given name reflects the influence of place names on naming traditions and the desire to commemorate or connect with a specific location.
People
Bristol + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bristol 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
Bristol: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bristol?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,096 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bristol 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 30,890 US residents.
Is Bristol a common name?
We classify Bristol as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,224 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bristol most popular?
The single biggest year for Bristol was 2019, when 801 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bristol is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bristol in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,633 people with the name Bristol, or 2.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,952 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 Bristol 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 Bristol?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bristol leans strongly female. 7,137 people counted with this name were female (93.6%), compared with 492 male bearers (6.4%). 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 Bristol?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bristol is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Bristol most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bristol in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (6,782 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 Bristol in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bristol a female name?
Yes, 95.0% of people registered as Bristol 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 Bristol still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bristol 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 Bristol 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 are named Bristol?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Bristol at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.