Bronsen
A name derived from a surname, likely meaning "son of the brown-haired one".
Name Census estimates that about 168 living Americans carry the first name Bronsen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bronsen today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bronsen births was 2012 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bronsen. 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
168
~ 1 in 2,040,204 Americans
Peak year
2012
14 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,025
Tracked since 1990
Census
Bronsen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 176 people with the first name Bronsen, which placed it at #41,537 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
#41,537
National first-name rank
People counted
176
176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bronsen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bronsen is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). 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 Bronsen 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 Bronsen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.3% · 115
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 15
- Two or more races8.5% · 15
- Black or African American5.1% · 9
Popularity
Bronsen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bronsen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 79 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bronsen 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 Bronsen 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 Bronsen
The name Bronsen is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, spoken by the Germanic tribes that inhabited Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries). It is likely derived from the Old Norse word "brún," meaning "brow" or "edge," combined with the suffix "-sen," which denotes "son of" or "descendant of."
This suggests that Bronsen may have initially been a patronymic surname, indicating a person's lineage or family ties. It is possible that the name was first used to identify someone who lived near a prominent ridge or cliff, or someone with distinctive eyebrows or a prominent brow.
The earliest known record of the name Bronsen dates back to the 11th century, found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are prose narratives that chronicle the lives and adventures of the Norse people. One notable figure from this time period was Bronsen Ólafsson, a Viking warrior and explorer who is said to have accompanied Leif Erikson on his journey to Vinland (present-day Newfoundland, Canada) around the year 1000 AD.
In the 13th century, a Benedictine monk named Bronsen Thorvaldsson is mentioned in a medieval manuscript as a scribe and chronicler at the monastery of Þingeyrar in northern Iceland. His meticulous recordings of historical events and religious teachings have been invaluable in understanding the culture and beliefs of the Norse people during that era.
During the 16th century, a Danish nobleman named Bronsen Knudsen (1522-1587) gained prominence as a military commander and diplomat. He served under King Christian III of Denmark and played a crucial role in the Danish Reformation, helping to establish Protestantism as the official religion of the kingdom.
In the 19th century, a Norwegian artist named Bronsen Thorvaldsen (1818-1892) gained recognition for his landscape paintings, which captured the rugged beauty of the Scandinavian fjords and mountains. His works were widely exhibited throughout Europe and are now part of several prestigious art collections.
Another notable figure was Bronsen Eriksson (1867-1941), a Swedish engineer and inventor who pioneered the development of the three-phase electrical system, which revolutionized the transmission and distribution of electrical power. His innovations laid the foundation for the modern electrical grid and paved the way for the widespread use of electricity.
These examples illustrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Bronsen, which has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions throughout the centuries, particularly in the Nordic countries and regions influenced by Norse culture.
People
Bronsen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bronsen 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
Bronsen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bronsen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 168 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bronsen 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 2,040,204 US residents.
Is Bronsen a common name?
We classify Bronsen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bronsen most popular?
The single biggest year for Bronsen was 2012, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bronsen is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bronsen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 176 people with the name Bronsen, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,537 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 Bronsen 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 Bronsen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bronsen appears almost entirely male. Of the 177 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 Bronsen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bronsen is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). 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 Bronsen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bronsen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (115 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 Bronsen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bronsen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bronsen 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 Bronsen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bronsen 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 Bronsen 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 Bronsen?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Bronsen at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.