Brallan
An Old English name possibly derived from braun "brown" and lēa "field".
Name Census estimates that about 331 living Americans carry the first name Brallan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brallan today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brallan births was 2007 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brallan. 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
331
~ 1 in 1,035,512 Americans
Peak year
2007
37 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,615
Tracked since 1991
Census
Brallan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 226 people with the first name Brallan, which placed it at #35,529 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
#35,529
National first-name rank
People counted
226
226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
99.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brallan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brallan is Hispanic at 99.1%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%). 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 Brallan 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 Brallan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino99.1% · 224
- White0.9% · 2
Popularity
Brallan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brallan 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 273 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
Brallan 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 Brallan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brallans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Brallan, while Illinois, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brallan
The name Brallan has its origins in the ancient Gaelic language, originating from the region that is now modern-day Ireland and Scotland. It is believed to have emerged during the 5th or 6th century CE, a time when the Celtic cultures of the British Isles were thriving.
Brallan is derived from the Gaelic word "bral," which means "noble" or "high-born." The suffix "-an" was often added to Gaelic names to indicate endearment or diminutive form. Therefore, the name Brallan could be interpreted as "little noble one" or "noble youth."
In the early medieval period, the name Brallan appeared in several ancient Irish manuscripts and historical records. One notable mention is in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where a Brallan is recorded as a prominent scholar and abbot who lived in the 7th century.
The earliest recorded bearer of the name Brallan was Saint Brallan of Bigor, an Irish monk and missionary who lived in the 6th century. He is venerated as the patron saint of the town of Bigor in County Derry, Northern Ireland.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brallan. These include Brallan of Clonard (550 CE - 640 CE), an Irish monk and disciple of St. Finnian; Brallan of Iona (590 CE - 670 CE), a Scottish abbot and scribe; Brallan mac Muiredaig (780 CE - 850 CE), an Irish king of Leinster; Brallan O'Donnell (1110 CE - 1180 CE), an Irish nobleman and warrior; and Brallan MacDonald (1270 CE - 1330 CE), a Scottish chieftain and clan leader.
While the name Brallan has deep roots in Celtic history and culture, it has become relatively rare in modern times. However, it continues to be used as a unique and meaningful name, carrying the essence of nobility and endearment from its ancient Gaelic origins.
People
Brallan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brallan 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
Brallan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brallan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 331 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brallan 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 1,035,512 US residents.
Is Brallan a common name?
We classify Brallan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 335 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brallan most popular?
The single biggest year for Brallan was 2007, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brallan is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brallan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 226 people with the name Brallan, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,529 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 Brallan 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 Brallan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brallan appears almost entirely male. Of the 232 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Brallan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brallan is Hispanic at 99.1%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%). 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 Brallan most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Brallan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.1% (224 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 Brallan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brallan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brallan 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 Brallan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brallan 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 Brallan 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 Brallan as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.