Bree
Of Celtic origin, meaning "hill" or "notable."
Name Census estimates that about 8,917 living Americans carry the first name Bree. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bree today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bree births was 2010 (308 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bree. 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 Bree with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.9K
~ 1 in 38,438 Americans
Peak year
2010
308 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
1978 SSA rank
#2,505
Tracked since 1971
Census
Bree in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,016 people with the first name Bree, which placed it at #2,463 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
#2,463
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,016 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bree
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bree is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Bree 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 Bree at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.0% · 7,510
- Black or African American9.3% · 931
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 782
- Two or more races5.2% · 523
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 179
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 91
Gender
Gender distribution for Bree
Out of the 9,242 babies given the name Bree since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Bree as a male name
- Ranked #5,905 in 1978
- 5 male births in 1978
- Peak: 1975 (7 births)
Bree as a female name
- Ranked #2,505 in 2024
- 71 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (308 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bree leans strongly female. 9,911 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 101 male bearers (1.0%).
Popularity
Bree: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bree from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,155 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
Bree 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 Bree during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Bree, while Nevada, Montana, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 162 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bree
The name Bree is thought to have originated from the Irish language, specifically the Gaelic word "brí" or "brígh," meaning "vigor" or "strength." This connection suggests that the name may have been derived from an admiration for physical or spiritual fortitude.
In ancient Irish folklore and mythology, the name Bree appeared in various forms, such as Bríghid or Brighid, which was the name of a revered Celtic goddess associated with fertility, healing, and poetry. This goddess was widely celebrated during the pagan festival of Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Bree was Saint Brigid of Kildare, a fifth-century Irish nun and abbess. She is venerated as one of the patron saints of Ireland and is known for her compassion, generosity, and miracles attributed to her.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bree or variations like Brigid were popular among Irish and Scottish families, often given to honor the beloved saint. One notable bearer was Brigid of Sweden, a 14th-century princess and religious reformer who founded the Brigittine order of nuns.
During the 16th century, the name Bree gained popularity in England, possibly due to the influence of Irish immigrants. One famous example is Bree Van Dyke, a 17th-century Dutch artist known for her still-life paintings depicting opulent banquets and lavish floral arrangements.
In the 19th century, Bree was a somewhat uncommon name, but it gained recognition through the works of author Bree Newsome, an American writer and activist born in 1985, who is renowned for her activism against racism and her efforts to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House grounds.
Another notable figure with the name Bree is Bree Runway, a British rapper and singer born in 1992, known for her unique style and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, who has gained widespread popularity and critical acclaim for her musical contributions.
People
Bree + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bree 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
Bree: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bree?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,917 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bree 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 38,438 US residents.
Is Bree a common name?
We classify Bree as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,242 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bree most popular?
The single biggest year for Bree was 2010, when 308 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bree is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bree in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,016 people with the name Bree, or 3.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,463 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 Bree 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 Bree?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bree leans strongly female. 9,911 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 101 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Bree?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bree is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Bree most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bree in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.0% (7,510 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 Bree in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bree a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Bree 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 Bree still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bree 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 Bree 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 Bree?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.