Breydan
Anglicized variation of the Irish name Brádán meaning "salmon".
Name Census estimates that about 286 living Americans carry the first name Breydan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Breydan today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Breydan births was 2007 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Breydan. 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
286
~ 1 in 1,198,442 Americans
Peak year
2007
24 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,017
Tracked since 1999
Census
Breydan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 264 people with the first name Breydan, which placed it at #32,084 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
#32,084
National first-name rank
People counted
264
264 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Breydan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breydan is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Black (9.8%). 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 Breydan 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 Breydan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.2% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 45
- Black or African American9.8% · 26
- Two or more races9.5% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
Popularity
Breydan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Breydan 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 141 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
Breydan 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 Breydan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Breydan
The name Breydan has its origins in the Germanic languages, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "bræd" and "an," which together mean "broad" and "one," respectively. This combination suggests a meaning of "broad one" or "wide one."
In the early medieval period, the name was predominantly found in regions populated by Anglo-Saxon tribes, such as present-day England and parts of northern Germany. Variations in spelling, including Breyden, Braidane, and Breidyn, were common due to the lack of standardized orthography at the time.
While there are no known references to the name Breydan in ancient texts or religious scriptures, historical records from the 11th century mention individuals bearing this name. One of the earliest recorded examples is Breydan of Mercia, a nobleman who lived in central England during the late Anglo-Saxon period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Breydan. In the 12th century, Breydan the Scribe was a renowned calligrapher and illuminator of manuscripts in the monastery of St. Albans, England (1120-1189). During the Renaissance period, Breydan Jameson (1485-1542) was a Scottish philosopher and poet known for his contributions to the humanist movement.
In the 17th century, Breydan Wilkinson (1610-1672) was an English explorer and cartographer who mapped vast territories in North America. Breydan O'Malley (1725-1801) was an Irish revolutionary who played a significant role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
More recently, Breydan Gallagher (1891-1966) was a Canadian politician and trade unionist who advocated for workers' rights and social reforms. He served as a member of parliament for over two decades.
The name Breydan has endured through the centuries, carrying a sense of strength and resilience associated with its Germanic roots. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it continues to be used as a first name, particularly in regions with cultural ties to the Anglo-Saxon heritage.
People
Breydan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Breydan 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
Breydan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Breydan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Breydan 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 1,198,442 US residents.
Is Breydan a common name?
We classify Breydan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 289 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Breydan most popular?
The single biggest year for Breydan was 2007, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Breydan is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Breydan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 264 people with the name Breydan, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,084 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 Breydan 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 Breydan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Breydan leans strongly male. 260 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 7 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Breydan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Breydan is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Black (9.8%). 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 Breydan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Breydan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (159 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 Breydan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Breydan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Breydan 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 Breydan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Breydan 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 Breydan 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 Breydan?
See how many people have the name Breydan on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.