Breonna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from French.
Name Census estimates that about 5,037 living Americans carry the first name Breonna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Breonna today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Breonna births was 1994 (280 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Breonna. 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
5.0K
~ 1 in 68,047 Americans
Peak year
1994
280 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,388
Tracked since 1978
Census
Breonna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,983 people with the first name Breonna, which placed it at #4,610 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
#4,610
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,983 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Breonna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breonna is Black at 50.9%. The next largest groups are White (33.5%) and Two or More Races (9.1%). 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 Breonna 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 Breonna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.9% · 2,026
- White33.5% · 1,333
- Two or more races9.1% · 361
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 202
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 21
Popularity
Breonna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Breonna 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 2,301 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
Breonna 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 Breonna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Breonnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Ohio, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Breonna, while Wisconsin, Washington, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 121 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Breonna
The name Breonna is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from a combination of the French name Brienne and the English name Briana. It does not appear to have any direct linguistic roots in ancient languages or cultures.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Breonna can be found in the United States in the late 20th century. It gained popularity as a feminine given name, possibly influenced by the rising trend of creating unique names by blending elements from different sources.
While there are no known historical figures specifically named Breonna, the name shares similarities with other names that have been in use for centuries. For instance, Brienne is a French place name that has been used as a given name, while Briana is a variant of the Irish name Brian, derived from the Gaelic word "brígh," meaning strength or virtue.
One notable individual with a similar name is Brienne of Tarth, a fictional character from George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series, which was later adapted into the popular television show "Game of Thrones." Portrayed by Gwendoline Christie, Brienne is a skilled warrior and a member of Renly Baratheon's Kingsguard.
In the realm of literature, Briana is the name of a character in the novel "The Firebrand" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which explores the life of Cassandra, a princess of Troy during the Trojan War.
Another individual with a similar name is Brianne Leary, an American actress known for her roles in television shows such as "The O.C." and "Days of Our Lives."
While the name Breonna itself may not have a long historical pedigree, it reflects the modern trend of creating unique and distinctive names by combining elements from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
People
Breonna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Breonna 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
Breonna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Breonna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,037 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Breonna 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 68,047 US residents.
Is Breonna a common name?
We classify Breonna as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,160 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Breonna most popular?
The single biggest year for Breonna was 1994, when 280 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Breonna is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Breonna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,983 people with the name Breonna, or 1.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,610 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 Breonna 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 Breonna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Breonna appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,976 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Breonna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breonna is Black at 50.9%. The next largest groups are White (33.5%) and Two or More Races (9.1%). 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 Breonna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Breonna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.9% (2,026 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 Breonna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Breonna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Breonna 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 Breonna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Breonna 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 Breonna 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 common is the name Breonna?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Breonna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.