Brynden
Of Welsh origin meaning "hill summit, high ridge."
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Brynden. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brynden today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brynden births was 2005 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brynden. 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
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
2005
19 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2019 SSA rank
#10,989
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Brynden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brynden from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 127 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Brynden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brynden 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 Brynden 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 Brynden
The name Brynden is of Welsh origin, derived from the elements "bryn" meaning "hill" and "den" meaning "man." It is believed to have emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, when Welsh names were becoming more widespread.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brynden can be found in the 14th century Welsh prose tale "Culhwch and Olwen," which is part of the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh medieval literature. In this tale, a character named Brynden appears as one of King Arthur's warriors.
Brynden was a relatively uncommon name throughout history, but there have been a few notable individuals who bore this name. One of the earliest recorded was Brynden Montgomery, a 15th century Welsh landowner and soldier who fought in the Wars of the Roses. Another Brynden of note was Brynden Jones (1618-1692), a Welsh clergyman and author who wrote several works on theology and philosophy.
In the 19th century, Brynden Kerfoot (1814-1904) was a Welsh-born American lawyer and politician who served as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1867 to 1871. Around the same time, Brynden Powell (1831-1904) was a notable Welsh artist and painter known for his landscapes and portraits.
A more recent figure was Brynden Trevathan (1917-1986), an American author and playwright who wrote several novels and plays, including the award-winning "The Yeoman's Tale" in 1958.
While not a common name in modern times, Brynden has maintained a niche presence, particularly in Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom, where it serves as a connection to Welsh heritage and culture.
People
Brynden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brynden 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
Brynden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brynden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brynden 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Brynden a common name?
We classify Brynden as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brynden most popular?
The single biggest year for Brynden was 2005, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brynden is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brynden a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brynden 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.
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.