Brylen
A feminine name of Old Irish and Old Norse origins meaning "strong stream".
Name Census estimates that about 682 living Americans carry the first name Brylen. It is a predominantly male name (92.7% of registrations). The average person named Brylen today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brylen births was 2011 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brylen. 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
682
~ 1 in 502,572 Americans
Peak year
2011
54 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,694
Tracked since 1998
Census
Brylen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 528 people with the first name Brylen, which placed it at #19,834 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
#19,834
National first-name rank
People counted
528
528 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brylen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brylen is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Brylen 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 Brylen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.7% · 278
- Black or African American29.2% · 154
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 43
- Two or more races7.2% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Brylen
Brylen leans heavily male at 92.7% of total registrations, but 50 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brylen as a male name
- Ranked #3,694 in 2024
- 30 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (48 births)
Brylen as a female name
- Ranked #14,657 in 2016
- 6 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2009 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brylen leans strongly male. 446 people counted with this name were male (85.4%), compared with 76 female bearers (14.6%).
Popularity
Brylen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brylen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 436 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brylen 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 Brylen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brylens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Indiana recorded the most babies named Brylen, while Louisiana, Indiana, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brylen
The name Brylen is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language spoken by the Britons, a group of people who inhabited the southern parts of the island of Great Britain during the Iron Age and Roman period. It is thought to be derived from the Proto-Celtic word "brig," which means "high" or "elevated," and the suffix "-len," which is a diminutive form indicating "little."
The earliest known record of the name Brylen can be traced back to the 6th century AD, where it appears in the genealogical records of the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd. In these records, a nobleman named Brylen ap Cyngen is mentioned as a member of the royal lineage.
During the Middle Ages, the name Brylen gained popularity among the Welsh aristocracy and was often associated with courage and strength. One notable figure who bore this name was Brylen ap Rhys, a Welsh prince who lived in the 12th century and was known for his military exploits against the Norman invaders.
In the 13th century, a famous Welsh bard and poet named Brylen Fardd is recorded as having composed several poetic works that celebrated the deeds of Welsh heroes and warriors. His works played a significant role in preserving and promoting the Welsh language and culture during a time of English dominance.
As the centuries passed, the name Brylen became less common, but it continued to appear sporadically throughout history. In the 16th century, a Brylen Jones is recorded as being a member of the Tudor court of King Henry VIII, serving as a squire to one of the king's courtiers.
Another notable figure with the name Brylen was a Scottish soldier named Brylen MacKenzie, who fought in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He was known for his bravery and loyalty to the Stuart cause and is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.
While the name Brylen may have fallen out of widespread use in more recent times, it remains a unique and historically significant name rooted in the ancient Celtic cultures of the British Isles.
People
Brylen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brylen 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
Brylen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brylen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 682 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brylen 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 502,572 US residents.
Is Brylen a common name?
We classify Brylen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 688 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brylen most popular?
The single biggest year for Brylen was 2011, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brylen is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brylen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 528 people with the name Brylen, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,834 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 Brylen 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 Brylen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brylen leans strongly male. 446 people counted with this name were male (85.4%), compared with 76 female bearers (14.6%). 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 Brylen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brylen is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Brylen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brylen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.7% (278 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 Brylen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brylen a male name?
Yes, 92.7% of people registered as Brylen 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 Brylen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brylen 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 Brylen 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 Brylen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.