Breann
French feminine name meaning "descendant of royalty" or "of noble birth".
Name Census estimates that about 5,606 living Americans carry the first name Breann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Breann today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Breann births was 1996 (299 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Breann. 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
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,141 Americans
Peak year
1996
299 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,640
Tracked since 1974
Census
Breann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,098 people with the first name Breann, which placed it at #3,860 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
#3,860
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,098 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Breann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breann is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Breann 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 Breann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.7% · 3,859
- Black or African American8.7% · 441
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 430
- Two or more races5.1% · 262
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 53
Popularity
Breann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Breann from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,557 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Breann 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 Breann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Breanns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Breann, while North Carolina, Montana, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 109 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Breann
The name Breann is a modern variation of the Irish name Bríghid, which means "exalted one" or "the high one." It has its origins in Celtic mythology, where Bríghid was the name of an Irish goddess associated with fertility, poetry, healing, and smithcraft. The name was later adopted by early Irish Christians and became popular as a given name for girls.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bríghid can be traced back to the 5th century AD, when it was borne by St. Brigid of Kildare, a celebrated abbess and one of Ireland's patron saints. St. Brigid founded several monasteries and is revered for her piety, miracles, and charitable works. Her feast day, celebrated on February 1st, is still widely observed in Ireland and parts of Europe.
Over the centuries, the name evolved into various spellings and forms, including Brigid, Bridget, Bríd, Bride, and Bree. The spelling Breann emerged as a modern variant, likely influenced by the Gaelic spelling "Breanainn" and the English pronunciation of the name.
Notable historical figures with the name Breann or its variations include:
1. Brigid of Kildare (c. 451 - c. 525), the Irish abbess and patron saint.
2. Brigid of Sweden (c. 1303 - 1373), a Swedish princess and religious leader who founded the Brigittine Order.
3. Bridget Boland (1913 - 1988), an Irish politician and activist who served as the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin.
4. Bridget Riley (born 1931), a renowned British painter and one of the leading figures in the Op Art movement.
5. Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2022), an American actress, artist, and muse of Andy Warhol's Factory.
While the name Breann is not as widely used as its more traditional forms, it has gained popularity in recent decades, especially in the United States and parts of Europe. The name carries a rich cultural heritage and connections to Irish mythology, Christianity, and influential historical figures.
People
Breann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Breann 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
Breann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Breann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,606 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Breann 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 61,141 US residents.
Is Breann a common name?
We classify Breann as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,808 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Breann most popular?
The single biggest year for Breann was 1996, when 299 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Breann is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Breann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,098 people with the name Breann, or 1.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,860 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 Breann 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 Breann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Breann appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,102 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Breann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breann is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Breann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Breann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.7% (3,859 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 Breann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Breann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Breann 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 Breann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Breann 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 Breann 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 Breann?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.