Brendyn
A masculine name of Celtic origin representing "prince" or "chief".
Name Census estimates that about 1,381 living Americans carry the first name Brendyn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brendyn today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brendyn births was 2009 (96 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brendyn. 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 Brendyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 248,193 Americans
Peak year
2009
96 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,300
Tracked since 1986
Census
Brendyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,164 people with the first name Brendyn, which placed it at #11,155 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
#11,155
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brendyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brendyn is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Black (12.6%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Brendyn 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 Brendyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.5% · 774
- Black or African American12.6% · 147
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 117
- Two or more races8.8% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 8
Popularity
Brendyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brendyn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 603 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
Brendyn 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 Brendyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brendyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Brendyn, while Tennessee, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brendyn
The name Brendyn is derived from the Celtic word "brenhin," which means "prince" or "leader." It originated in ancient Britain during the 5th or 6th century AD, when the Celtic tribes inhabited the region. The name was initially spelled "Brenhin" or "Brenin" in Welsh and Cornish.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brendyn can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional narratives from the Middle Ages. The Triads mention a character named "Brenhin Llyr," who was a legendary king of Britain. However, it is unclear whether this character was based on a real historical figure.
The name Brendyn gained popularity in Ireland during the Middle Ages, where it was anglicized to "Brendan" or "Brandan." One of the most famous bearers of this name was Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577), an Irish monk who is said to have undertaken a legendary voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of the "Promised Land of the Saints."
Another notable figure with the name Brendyn was Brendan Behan (1923 – 1964), an Irish republican, poet, and playwright. He was known for his works such as "The Quare Fellow" and "Borstal Boy," which explored the themes of Irish nationalism and social injustice.
In the 16th century, Brendyn ap Rhys (c. 1535 – c. 1609) was a Welsh poet and member of the Gorsedd of Bards, a traditional assembly of poets and musicians in Wales. He is considered one of the most important figures in the preservation of Welsh culture and language during the Renaissance period.
During the 20th century, Brendyn Behan (1923 – 1964) was an Irish novelist, playwright, and poet. He is best known for his works such as "The Hostage" and "Borstal Boy," which explored themes of Irish nationalism and social injustice.
The name Brendyn has also been popularized in modern times through various literary works and media. For instance, Brendyn Fraser is a Canadian-American actor known for his roles in films such as "The Mummy" and "School Ties."
People
Brendyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brendyn 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
Brendyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brendyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,381 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brendyn 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 248,193 US residents.
Is Brendyn a common name?
We classify Brendyn as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brendyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Brendyn was 2009, when 96 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brendyn is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brendyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,164 people with the name Brendyn, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,155 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 Brendyn 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 Brendyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brendyn leans strongly male. 1,129 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 32 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Brendyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brendyn is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Black (12.6%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Brendyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brendyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.5% (774 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 Brendyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brendyn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brendyn 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 Brendyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brendyn 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 Brendyn 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 Americans are named Brendyn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.