Braelyn
A feminine name with uncertain meaning, possibly a combination of "brae" (hill) and "lyn" (lake).
Name Census estimates that about 11,940 living Americans carry the first name Braelyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Braelyn today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braelyn births was 2011 (825 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braelyn. 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 Braelyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Braelyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,706 Americans
Peak year
2011
825 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,076
Tracked since 1991
Census
Braelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,795 people with the first name Braelyn, which placed it at #2,672 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
#2,672
National first-name rank
People counted
8.8K
8,795 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Braelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braelyn is White at 71.1%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Braelyn 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 Braelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.1% · 6,251
- Black or African American12.9% · 1,133
- Two or more races7.7% · 679
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 614
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 75
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 43
Gender
Gender distribution for Braelyn
Braelyn leans heavily female at 89.2% of total registrations, but 1,302 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Braelyn as a male name
- Ranked #3,044 in 2024
- 40 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (106 births)
Braelyn as a female name
- Ranked #1,076 in 2024
- 230 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (735 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Braelyn leans strongly female. 7,987 people counted with this name were female (90.8%), compared with 813 male bearers (9.2%).
Popularity
Braelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Braelyn 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 7,072 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
Braelyn 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 Braelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Braelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Braelyn, while Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 214 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Braelyn
The name Braelyn is a relatively modern invention, believed to have originated in the late 20th century. It is an anglicized blend of the names Braden and Kaylyn, both of which have roots in various Germanic languages.
Braden is derived from the Old English word "brad," meaning broad or wide, and the suffix "-en," which was a common way of forming surnames or place names in Old English. The name Kaylyn, on the other hand, is a variation of the French name Caitlin or the Irish name Caitlín, which ultimately comes from the Greek name Aikaterine, meaning "pure."
While Braelyn does not have a long historical lineage, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States and Canada. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, although it did not become widespread until the early 2000s.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Braelyn was Braelyn Leigh Ranger, an American actress born in 1994. She appeared in various television shows and films during her childhood, including the 2005 movie "Mute" and the television series "Zoey 101" in 2005.
Another well-known figure with the name Braelyn is Braelyn Kylie Dobrzynski, a Canadian actress born in 1996. She is best known for her roles in the television series "The Next Step" and "Lost & Found Music Studios."
In the field of music, Braelyn Rae Rayson is an American singer-songwriter who first gained recognition on social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok in the late 2010s. She has since released several singles and an EP.
Braelyn Nikole Vaillancourt is a Canadian blogger and social media influencer, known for her lifestyle and fashion content. She was born in 1996 and has amassed a significant following on platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
Lastly, Braelyn Rose Paige is an American competitive dancer and actress, born in 2006. She has appeared in various dance competitions and television shows, such as "Dance Moms" and "Abby's Virtual Dance Off."
While the name Braelyn is a modern creation, it has gained popularity in recent years, particularly among parents seeking unique and creative names for their children. Its blend of traditional elements from different linguistic backgrounds has contributed to its appeal and widespread use across various English-speaking regions.
People
Braelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braelyn 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
Braelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,940 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braelyn 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 28,706 US residents.
Is Braelyn a common name?
We classify Braelyn as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,048 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Braelyn was 2011, when 825 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braelyn is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Braelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,795 people with the name Braelyn, or 2.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,672 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 Braelyn 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 Braelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Braelyn leans strongly female. 7,987 people counted with this name were female (90.8%), compared with 813 male bearers (9.2%). 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 Braelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braelyn is White at 71.1%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Braelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Braelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.1% (6,251 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 Braelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Braelyn a female name?
Yes, 89.2% of people registered as Braelyn 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 Braelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Braelyn 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 Braelyn 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 share the name Braelyn?
You can see how many people have the name Braelyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.