Brylea
A feminine name blending the names Brie and Leah, meaning "brave protector".
Name Census estimates that about 230 living Americans carry the first name Brylea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brylea today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brylea births was 2010 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brylea. 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
230
~ 1 in 1,490,236 Americans
Peak year
2010
25 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,786
Tracked since 1998
Census
Brylea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 227 people with the first name Brylea, which placed it at #35,437 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
#35,437
National first-name rank
People counted
227
227 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brylea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brylea is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Brylea 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 Brylea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.8% · 197
- Two or more races4.0% · 9
- Black or African American3.5% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 5
Popularity
Brylea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brylea from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 124 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
Brylea 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 Brylea 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 Brylea
The name Brylea is a relatively modern invention, with its origins obscure and uncertain. It appears to be a combination of the syllables "Bry" and "lea," which may have been derived from various sources. The "Bry" component could be a shortened form of the Welsh name Brian, meaning "strong" or "virtuous." Alternatively, it might be related to the Old English word "bry," meaning "vigor" or "strength."
The "lea" part of the name likely comes from the Old English word "leah," meaning "meadow" or "clearing." This was a common element in English place names, such as Berklea and Oaklea. Combining these two elements may have been an attempt to create a name with a sense of natural beauty and strength.
While the name Brylea does not appear to have any direct historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been used as a given name for both boys and girls in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Brylea was Brylea Holloway, an American artist and painter born in 1932 in Mississippi. Her works were known for their vibrant use of color and depictions of rural life in the American South.
Another notable figure was Brylea Hawkins (1945-2018), a New Zealand writer and journalist who authored several books about Māori culture and history. Her work was instrumental in raising awareness and appreciation for indigenous traditions and narratives.
In the field of sports, Brylea Thompson (born 1983) was a Canadian soccer player who represented her country in several international tournaments, including the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Brylea Morrow (1961-2015) was a British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded several successful technology companies. She was also known for her extensive charitable work, particularly in supporting education initiatives for underprivileged children.
Lastly, Brylea Carmichael (born 1975) is a contemporary Australian actress and director, known for her roles in various television series and films. She has received critical acclaim for her performances and has been recognized with several awards and nominations.
While the name Brylea may be of relatively recent coinage, these individuals have contributed to its growing recognition and associations with creative expression, cultural appreciation, athletic achievement, entrepreneurship, and artistic endeavors.
People
Brylea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brylea 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
Brylea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brylea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 230 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brylea 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 1,490,236 US residents.
Is Brylea a common name?
We classify Brylea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 233 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brylea most popular?
The single biggest year for Brylea was 2010, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brylea 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 Brylea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 227 people with the name Brylea, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,437 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 Brylea 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 Brylea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brylea appears almost entirely female. Of the 224 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Brylea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brylea is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Brylea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brylea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (197 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 Brylea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brylea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brylea 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 Brylea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brylea 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 Brylea 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 Brylea?
You can see how many people have the name Brylea on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.