Brina
A feminine name with Latin roots symbolizing sea salt or brine.
Name Census estimates that about 1,312 living Americans carry the first name Brina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brina today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brina births was 1996 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brina. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 261,246 Americans
Peak year
1996
60 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
1986 SSA rank
#6,857
Tracked since 1947
Census
Brina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,377 people with the first name Brina, which placed it at #9,883 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
#9,883
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brina is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.9%) and Black (15.0%). 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 Brina 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 Brina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.8% · 754
- Hispanic or Latino18.9% · 260
- Black or African American15.0% · 207
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 74
- Two or more races5.0% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Brina
Out of the 1,366 babies given the name Brina since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Brina as a male name
- Ranked #6,857 in 1986
- 5 male births in 1986
- Peak: 1986 (5 births)
Brina as a female name
- Ranked #13,726 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (60 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brina leans strongly female. 1,345 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 41 male bearers (3.0%).
Popularity
Brina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brina from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 452 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
Brina 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 Brina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Brina, while Georgia, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brina
The name Brina is believed to have originated from the Slavic languages, particularly in the regions of Croatia and Slovenia. It is a feminine name derived from the Slavic word "brina," which means "bramble" or "blackberry." This name has been in use since the Middle Ages and is associated with the natural beauty and resilience of the bramble plant.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brina can be found in the 14th century Croatian epic poem "Osman" by Ivan Gundulić. In this literary work, the character Brina is portrayed as a strong and courageous woman, reflecting the spirit of the name's meaning.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brina. One such person was Brina Svitlica (1574-1647), a Croatian noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the defense of her territory during the Croatian-Ottoman Wars. Her bravery and leadership qualities became legendary.
Another notable Brina was Brina Kantoci (1807-1873), an Albanian writer and educator who was a pioneering figure in the promotion of women's education in the Ottoman Empire. Her works and advocacy paved the way for greater educational opportunities for women in the region.
In the realm of literature, Brina Venezky (1917-2004) was an American author and illustrator known for her children's books, including "Blackberry Cooties" and "The Bamboo Brush." Her works often celebrated nature and cultural diversity.
Brina Majoli (1951-2017) was an Italian tennis player who achieved notable success in the 1970s and 1980s. She won multiple Grand Slam titles and reached the top 5 in the world rankings, becoming a prominent figure in women's professional tennis.
Lastly, Brina Knauss (1993-present) is a contemporary American actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films. Her career continues to flourish, carrying the name Brina into the modern era.
People
Brina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brina 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
Brina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,312 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brina 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 261,246 US residents.
Is Brina a common name?
We classify Brina as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,366 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brina most popular?
The single biggest year for Brina was 1996, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brina is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,377 people with the name Brina, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,883 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 Brina 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 Brina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brina leans strongly female. 1,345 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 41 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Brina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brina is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.9%) and Black (15.0%). 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 Brina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.8% (754 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 Brina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brina a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Brina 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 Brina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brina 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 Brina 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 Brina?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.