Brit
Of Anglo-Saxon origin meaning "resident of Britain".
Name Census estimates that about 703 living Americans carry the first name Brit. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Brit today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brit births was 1989 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brit. 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
703
~ 1 in 487,560 Americans
Peak year
1989
24 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,303
Tracked since 1921
Gender
Gender distribution for Brit
Brit leans heavily male at 81.0% of total registrations, but 147 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brit as a male name
- Ranked #12,303 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1970 (19 births)
Brit as a female name
- Ranked #14,901 in 2014
- 6 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1982 (9 births)
Popularity
Brit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brit from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 170 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
Brit 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 Brit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brits live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brit
The name Brit is an English diminutive form of the name Britton, which was derived from the Celtic word "Brith" meaning "painted" or "painted person." The name originated during the ancient Celtic era in the British Isles, particularly in areas that are now part of England and Wales.
The earliest recorded use of the name Brit can be traced back to the Middle Ages, around the 11th century. During this time, it was primarily used as a nickname or shortened form of the name Britton, which was a surname given to individuals who had descended from or lived in the region of Brittany in modern-day France.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Brit was Brit Bachcocht, a Welsh cleric and writer who lived in the 12th century. He is best known for his work titled "The Life of St. Cadog," which chronicled the life of a Welsh saint.
In the 13th century, a man named Brit de Penketh was recorded as a landowner in the county of Lancashire, England. This indicates that the name was not only used in Wales but had also spread to other parts of the British Isles.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure with the name Brit was Brit Amadas, a French poet and troubadour who lived in the 12th century. His works were widely celebrated and helped to popularize the use of the name among the French nobility.
In the 16th century, a woman named Brit Jones was recorded as living in the town of Carmarthen, Wales. She was known for her skill in embroidery and was commissioned to create various pieces for the local gentry.
Another notable individual with the name Brit was Brit Constable, an English painter and printmaker who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was renowned for his landscape paintings and is considered one of the leading figures of the English Romantic movement in art.
While the name Brit has its origins in the Celtic cultures of the British Isles, it has been used throughout history in various parts of Europe and has been associated with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including writers, landowners, artists, and members of the clergy.
People
Brit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brit 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
Brit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 703 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brit 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 487,560 US residents.
Is Brit a common name?
We classify Brit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 775 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brit most popular?
The single biggest year for Brit was 1989, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brit is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brit a male name?
Yes, 81.0% of people registered as Brit 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.