Briton
Of ancient British origin, associated with the Celtic Britons.
Name Census estimates that about 530 living Americans carry the first name Briton. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Briton today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Briton births was 1991 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Briton. 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
530
~ 1 in 646,706 Americans
Peak year
1991
27 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,424
Tracked since 1963
Gender
Gender distribution for Briton
Out of the 549 babies given the name Briton since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Briton as a male name
- Ranked #12,424 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1991 (27 births)
Briton as a female name
- Ranked #13,245 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1990 (5 births)
Popularity
Briton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Briton from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 145 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Briton 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 Briton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Briton
The name Briton has its roots in the ancient Celtic and Brittonic languages spoken by the inhabitants of the British Isles. It is derived from the word "Bretton," meaning "a British person" or "someone from Britain." This name has a long and storied history, stretching back to the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD.
In ancient times, the name Briton was used to refer to the Celtic tribes that inhabited the island of Great Britain. These tribes, including the Iceni, Trinovantes, and Brigantes, fiercely resisted the Roman invasion, led by the famous warrior queen Boudicca in 60-61 AD. The name Briton appears in various historical accounts and chronicles from this period, such as those written by the Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Briton can be found in the writings of the Venerable Bede, an English monk and historian from the 7th-8th century. In his work "Ecclesiastical History of the English People," Bede refers to the Britons as the indigenous inhabitants of Britain before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Briton. One of the most famous was Briton of Tours (circa 460-510 AD), a Gallo-Roman abbot and bishop who played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in Gaul (modern-day France). Another was Briton Rivière (1840-1920), a renowned English painter known for his depictions of animals and scenes from British history.
Other notable figures with the name Briton include:
1. Briton Hammon (1798-1891), an American sailor and author who was one of the first published African American writers.
2. Briton Corliss (1832-1888), an American inventor and mechanical engineer best known for his pioneering work on steam engines.
3. Briton Busch (1877-1962), an American businessman and co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, one of the largest brewing companies in the world.
4. Briton Hadden (1898-1929), an American writer and co-founder of Time magazine, who played a key role in shaping the magazine's distinctive style and format.
5. Briton Trump (1915-2000), an American real estate developer and the father of former US President Donald Trump.
While the name Briton has Celtic and Brittonic origins, it has been adopted and used by people from various cultural backgrounds throughout history, reflecting the rich diversity and interconnectedness of human societies.
People
Briton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Briton 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
Briton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Briton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 530 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Briton 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 646,706 US residents.
Is Briton a common name?
We classify Briton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 549 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Briton most popular?
The single biggest year for Briton was 1991, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Briton is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Briton a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Briton 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.