Brooklin
A feminine name derived from the word "brook", meaning a small stream or creek.
Name Census estimates that about 1,999 living Americans carry the first name Brooklin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brooklin today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brooklin births was 2007 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brooklin. 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 Brooklin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 171,463 Americans
Peak year
2007
135 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,109
Tracked since 1985
Census
Brooklin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,858 people with the first name Brooklin, which placed it at #7,942 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
#7,942
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,858 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brooklin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brooklin is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Brooklin 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 Brooklin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.1% · 1,302
- Black or African American13.2% · 246
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 147
- Two or more races7.1% · 132
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Brooklin
Out of the 2,031 babies given the name Brooklin since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Brooklin as a male name
- Ranked #11,109 in 2003
- 5 male births in 2003
- Peak: 2003 (5 births)
Brooklin as a female name
- Ranked #11,259 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (135 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brooklin leans strongly female. 1,818 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 43 male bearers (2.3%).
Popularity
Brooklin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brooklin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 969 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
Brooklin 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 Brooklin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brooklins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Brooklin, while North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brooklin
The given name Brooklin is an English name that originated in the late 20th century. It is a combination of the words "brook" and "lin", with "brook" referring to a small stream or creek, and "lin" being a diminutive suffix derived from the Old English "lind", meaning "lime tree". The name is thought to have first gained popularity in North America, particularly in the United States and Canada.
While the name Brooklin does not have any known historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been inspired by the name of various locations, such as the borough of Brooklyn in New York City or the town of Brooklin in Ontario, Canada. The name's association with natural elements like streams and trees gives it a serene and nature-inspired quality.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brooklin being used as a given name dates back to the late 1970s or early 1980s. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1990s and early 2000s, when it became a fashionable choice for baby names, particularly among parents seeking unique and nature-inspired names for their children.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Brooklin, including:
1. Brooklin Bryant (born 1983), an American professional basketball player who played in the NBA.
2. Brooklin George (born 1987), a Canadian actress known for her roles in television series such as "Degrassi: The Next Generation" and "The Girlfriend Experience".
3. Brooklin Burgess (born 1990), an American singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a contestant on the reality competition show "American Idol".
4. Brooklin Redd (born 1995), an American actress best known for her role in the film "The Hate U Give".
5. Brooklin Jones (born 2002), a Canadian child actor who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "Anne with an E" and "The Twilight Zone".
While the name Brooklin has seen a surge in popularity in recent decades, it remains a relatively uncommon and distinctive choice, often associated with a love for nature and a desire for unique and meaningful names.
People
Brooklin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brooklin 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
Brooklin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brooklin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,999 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brooklin 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 171,463 US residents.
Is Brooklin a common name?
We classify Brooklin as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,031 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brooklin most popular?
The single biggest year for Brooklin was 2007, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brooklin is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brooklin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,858 people with the name Brooklin, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,942 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 Brooklin 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 Brooklin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brooklin leans strongly female. 1,818 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 43 male bearers (2.3%). 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 Brooklin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brooklin is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Brooklin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brooklin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.1% (1,302 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 Brooklin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brooklin a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Brooklin 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 Brooklin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brooklin 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 Brooklin 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 Brooklin as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.