Brookelin
A feminine name of English origin meaning "brook by the meadow."
Name Census estimates that about 78 living Americans carry the first name Brookelin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brookelin today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brookelin births was 2004 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brookelin. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Brookelin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
78
~ 1 in 4,394,286 Americans
Peak year
2004
10 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2012 SSA rank
#17,354
Tracked since 1995
Popularity
Brookelin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brookelin from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 53 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brookelin 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 Brookelin 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 Brookelin
The name Brookelin is an anglicized form of the Old English word "brocholæn," which means "dweller by the brook." It is derived from the elements "broc," meaning a small stream or brook, and "holæn," meaning a meadow or enclosure. The name's roots can be traced back to the 5th century CE, when Anglo-Saxon settlers began to establish themselves in what is now England.
Brookelin emerged as a given name during the Medieval period in England, particularly among families living in rural areas near brooks or streams. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where a landowner named "Brocholæn" is mentioned.
In the 12th century, the name appeared in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, referring to a man named "Brocholæne." This suggests that Brookelin had gained some popularity among the English gentry during the Norman period.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Brookelin remained a relatively uncommon name, primarily used by families living in the countryside. However, in the 16th century, a Brookelin Wilkinson was noted as a prominent merchant in the city of Bristol, indicating that the name had spread beyond its rural origins.
In the 17th century, Brookelin Digby (1579-1633) was a renowned English philosopher and author, best known for his work "Of the Immortality of Man's Soul." His prominence helped to further popularize the name during the Renaissance period.
Other notable individuals with the name Brookelin include Brookelin Smythe (1671-1742), a British explorer who traveled to the Americas, and Brookelin Fairfax (1802-1879), a influential English philanthropist and social reformer.
As the centuries passed, the name Brookelin maintained a modest presence in English-speaking regions, often associated with a connection to nature and a rustic charm. While never reaching widespread popularity, it has endured as a unique and distinctive name with a rich historical lineage.
People
Brookelin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brookelin 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
Brookelin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brookelin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 78 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brookelin 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 4,394,286 US residents.
Is Brookelin a common name?
We classify Brookelin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brookelin most popular?
The single biggest year for Brookelin was 2004, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brookelin is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Brookelin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brookelin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brookelin 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 Brookelin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brookelin 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 Brookelin 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Brookelin?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Brookelin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.