Bruk
Hebrew masculine given name of unknown etymology.
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Bruk. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bruk today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bruk births was 2017 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bruk. 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 Bruk with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
2017
12 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,580
Tracked since 2004
Census
Bruk in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 256 people with the first name Bruk, which placed it at #32,700 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
#32,700
National first-name rank
People counted
256
256 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bruk
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bruk is Black at 86.7%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Bruk 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 Bruk at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.7% · 222
- White10.2% · 26
- Two or more races2.3% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 2
Popularity
Bruk: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bruk from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 67 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bruk remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bruk 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 Bruk 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 Bruk
The name Bruk is an old Germanic name with origins dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "brukaz", which meant "to use" or "to employ". This word eventually evolved into the Old English "brucan" and the Old Norse "bruka".
Bruk was a common name among the Angles, Saxons, and other Germanic tribes that settled in England and parts of northern Europe during the Migration Period. It was often given to children as a sign of strength and practicality, reflecting the desire for the child to be productive and useful to their community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bruk can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record compiled in the late 9th century. The entry for the year 685 mentions a nobleman named Bruk who was involved in a conflict between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.
Another notable figure with the name Bruk was a Frankish monk who lived in the 8th century. He was a scribe and scholar at the monastery of Fulda in present-day Germany and was known for his calligraphic skills and his contributions to the preservation of ancient texts.
In the 10th century, a Danish Viking chieftain named Bruk led a successful raid on the coastal regions of what is now northern France. He and his men were able to plunder several wealthy monasteries and villages before retreating with their spoils.
During the Middle Ages, the name Bruk was also used by a few minor nobles and landowners in various parts of Europe, though records of their lives and deeds are scarce.
One of the more notable individuals with the name Bruk was a German artist and woodcarver who lived in the 16th century. He was known for his intricate and highly detailed religious carvings, many of which can still be found in churches and museums across Germany and neighboring countries.
While the name Bruk was once relatively common among certain Germanic populations, it fell out of widespread use by the late medieval period. However, it has persisted as a rare but distinctive name in some regions, often serving as a reminder of its ancient and practical origins.
People
Bruk + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bruk 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
Bruk: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bruk?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bruk 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Bruk a common name?
We classify Bruk as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bruk most popular?
The single biggest year for Bruk was 2017, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bruk is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bruk in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 256 people with the name Bruk, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,700 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 Bruk 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 Bruk?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bruk leans strongly male. 250 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 11 female bearers (4.2%). 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 Bruk?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bruk is Black at 86.7%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Bruk most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Bruk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.7% (222 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 Bruk in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bruk a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bruk 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 Bruk still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bruk 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 Bruk 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 called Bruk?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.