Bronson
From an Old English surname referring to someone from a town of that name.
Name Census estimates that about 10,035 living Americans carry the first name Bronson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bronson today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bronson births was 2015 (385 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bronson. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bronson with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 34,156 Americans
Peak year
2015
385 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,035
Tracked since 1913
Census
Bronson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,102 people with the first name Bronson, which placed it at #2,853 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
#2,853
National first-name rank
People counted
8.1K
8,102 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bronson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bronson is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.3%) and Two or More Races (8.7%). 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 Bronson 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 Bronson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.0% · 5,512
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 835
- Two or more races8.7% · 705
- Black or African American5.6% · 455
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 407
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 188
Popularity
Bronson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bronson from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,285 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bronson remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bronson 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 Bronson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bronsons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Utah, Hawaii recorded the most babies named Bronson, while New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 164 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bronson
The given name Bronson has its roots in the Old English language, originating during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th century AD. It is derived from the Old English words "brun" meaning "brown" and "sunu" meaning "son," effectively translating to "brown son" or "son of the brown-haired one."
This name finds its earliest recorded use in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Bronson holding estates in Lincolnshire, England. This suggests that the name was already in use among the Anglo-Saxon nobility before the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Bronson appeared sporadically in various historical records and chronicles, primarily concentrated in the regions of England and parts of Scotland. One notable bearer of the name was Sir Bronson de Vere, a 13th-century English knight who fought in the Crusades and was known for his bravery in the Battle of Acre in 1191.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity among the English gentry and aristocracy. A prominent figure bearing this name was Bronson Fitzwilliam, a 16th-century English nobleman and courtier who served as a member of the Privy Council under Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 18th century, Bronson Alcott (1799-1888), an American educator and philosopher, was a notable bearer of the name. He founded the experimental Utopian community known as "Fruitlands" and was the father of renowned writer Louisa May Alcott.
Another well-known individual with the name Bronson was Charles Bronson (1921-2003), an American actor famous for his roles in action films such as "Death Wish" and "The Great Escape." He was born Charles Buchinsky but later adopted the stage name Bronson.
In the field of literature, Bronson Howard (1842-1908) was an American playwright and dramatist who authored several successful Broadway plays, including "The Banker's Daughter" and "Shenandoah."
The name Bronson has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, although it has never been among the most popular given names. Its unique blend of Old English roots and association with notable figures from various eras has contributed to its enduring appeal and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bronson
People
Bronson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bronson 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
Bronson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bronson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,035 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bronson 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 34,156 US residents.
Is Bronson a common name?
We classify Bronson as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,478 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bronson most popular?
The single biggest year for Bronson was 2015, when 385 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bronson is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bronson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,102 people with the name Bronson, or 2.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,853 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 Bronson 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 Bronson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bronson appears almost entirely male. Of the 8,096 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Bronson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bronson is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.3%) and Two or More Races (8.7%). 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 Bronson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bronson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.0% (5,512 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 Bronson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bronson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bronson 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 Bronson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bronson 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 Bronson 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 Bronson?
See how many people have the name Bronson on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.