Brittley
A feminine name of English origin literally meaning "bright meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the first name Brittley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brittley today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brittley births was 1993 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brittley. 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
111
~ 1 in 3,087,877 Americans
Peak year
1993
15 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2019 SSA rank
#15,964
Tracked since 1988
Census
Brittley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 156 people with the first name Brittley, which placed it at #44,397 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
#44,397
National first-name rank
People counted
156
156 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brittley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brittley is White at 63.5%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Brittley 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 Brittley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.5% · 99
- Black or African American18.6% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 14
- Two or more races8.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Brittley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brittley from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 51 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Brittley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brittley 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 Brittley 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 Brittley
The name Brittley is an English given name with origins that can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated from the Old English word "briht," which means "bright" or "shining." The suffix "-ley" was commonly added to names during this period, often denoting a place of origin or residence.
One of the earliest known references to the name Brittley can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Brihtleah," referring to a small village or settlement in the county of Hertfordshire.
During the 13th century, the name Brittley gained popularity among the English nobility. Sir Brittley de Montfort, a prominent knight and landowner born in 1225, was one of the first notable figures to bear the name. He played a significant role in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III.
In the 15th century, Brittley Tyndale, born in 1492, was a renowned English scholar and translator. He is best known for his pioneering work in translating the Bible into English, which laid the foundation for the King James Version of the Bible.
The name Brittley also appears in various literary works from the Renaissance period. William Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" features a character named Brittley Ford, though it is unclear whether this was a common name at the time or a fictional creation by the playwright.
Fast forward to the 18th century, and we find Brittley Franklin, born in 1706, a notable American printer and publisher who worked alongside his brother, Benjamin Franklin. He played a crucial role in the early printing industry in the American colonies.
Another notable figure with the name Brittley was Brittley Wilberforce, born in 1759, an English politician and philanthropist who was instrumental in the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. His tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to the cause of human rights have left a lasting impact on history.
People
Brittley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brittley 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
Brittley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brittley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brittley 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 3,087,877 US residents.
Is Brittley a common name?
We classify Brittley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brittley most popular?
The single biggest year for Brittley was 1993, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brittley is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brittley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 156 people with the name Brittley, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,397 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 Brittley 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 Brittley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brittley leans strongly female. 150 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Brittley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brittley is White at 63.5%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Brittley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brittley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.5% (99 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 Brittley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brittley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brittley 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 Brittley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brittley 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 Brittley 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 Brittley?
Find out how many people have the name Brittley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.