Bronislaw
A masculine Polish name derived from Slavic elements meaning "renowned protector".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Bronislaw. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bronislaw today is around 101 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bronislaw births was 1918 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bronislaw. 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
- • The typical person named Bronislaw is about 101 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bronislaws were born before 1935.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bronislaw. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1918
26 babies that year
Average age
101
years old
1931 SSA rank
#3,829
Tracked since 1908
Census
Bronislaw in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 315 people with the first name Bronislaw, which placed it at #28,488 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
#28,488
National first-name rank
People counted
315
315 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bronislaw
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bronislaw is White at 97.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). 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 Bronislaw 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 Bronislaw at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.5% · 307
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Bronislaw: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bronislaw from the 1900s through to the 1930s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 148 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bronislaw 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 Bronislaw during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bronislaws live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Bronislaw, while New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bronislaw
The given name Bronislaw is of Slavic origin, derived from the Polish and Belarusian languages. It is a combination of the Slavic root words "bron" meaning "defense" and "slav" meaning "glory" or "fame." This name emerged during the medieval period in regions that are now parts of modern-day Poland and Belarus.
One of the earliest known references to the name Bronislaw can be found in the Polish Chronicle, a historical record from the 12th century. It mentions a Bronislaw who was a prominent nobleman and military commander during the reign of Bolesław III Wrymouth, the Duke of Poland from 1107 to 1138.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bronislaw. One of the most renowned was Bronisław Malinowski, a Polish anthropologist who lived from 1884 to 1942. He is widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of ethnography and is best known for his contributions to the study of the Trobriand Islanders in the Western Pacific.
Another famous Bronislaw was Bronisław Huberman, a Polish violinist and founder of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (now the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra). He was born in 1882 and passed away in 1947. Huberman is credited with helping to rescue numerous Jewish musicians from Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.
In the realm of literature, Bronisław Geremek, a Polish social historian and politician, made significant contributions. He was born in 1932 and lived until 2008. Geremek served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland and was a prominent figure in the Solidarity movement that played a crucial role in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
Bronisław Komorowski, a Polish politician and historian, served as the President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. He was born in 1952 and has been involved in various political roles, including serving as the Marshal of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) from 2007 to 2010.
The name Bronislaw has a rich history and has been associated with influential figures across various fields, including military leadership, academia, arts, and politics. While its origins can be traced back to the medieval period in Slavic regions, the name has transcended geographical boundaries and continues to be used in modern times.
People
Bronislaw + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bronislaw 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
Bronislaw: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bronislaw?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bronislaw 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Bronislaw a common name?
We classify Bronislaw as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bronislaw most popular?
The single biggest year for Bronislaw was 1918, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bronislaw is about 101 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bronislaw in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 315 people with the name Bronislaw, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,488 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 Bronislaw 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 Bronislaw?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bronislaw appears almost entirely male. Of the 308 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bronislaw?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bronislaw is White at 97.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). 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 Bronislaw most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bronislaw in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (307 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 Bronislaw in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bronislaw a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bronislaw 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.
Is Bronislaw still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bronislaw 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 Bronislaw 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 share the name Bronislaw?
Find out how many Americans are named Bronislaw on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.