Broc
From the English variant of the French surname Broc, meaning "a pointed tool or weapon".
Name Census estimates that about 2,448 living Americans carry the first name Broc. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Broc today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Broc births was 2004 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Broc. 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 Broc with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 140,014 Americans
Peak year
2004
105 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,110
Tracked since 1947
Census
Broc in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,207 people with the first name Broc, which placed it at #7,047 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
#7,047
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,207 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Broc
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Broc is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.8%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Broc 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 Broc at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.2% · 1,924
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 105
- Two or more races3.6% · 80
- Black or African American2.8% · 62
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 17
Popularity
Broc: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Broc from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 759 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
Broc 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 Broc during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brocs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Utah, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Broc, while Missouri, Arizona, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Broc
The name Broc is derived from the Old French word "broc," meaning "a sort of jug or pitcher." Its origins can be traced back to the Gallo-Roman culture of ancient Gaul, which encompassed modern-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Broc was likely used as a nickname or surname for individuals who were involved in the production or trade of ceramic jugs or pitchers. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 11th century in various French charters and records.
One notable historical figure with the name Broc was Broc de Caen, a Norman knight who participated in the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He was rewarded with lands in Somerset, England, for his service to William the Conqueror.
Another noteworthy individual was Broc de Séez, a 12th-century Norman bishop who served as the Bishop of Sées in Normandy, France. He is known for his involvement in the construction of the Sées Cathedral and his advocacy for the poor.
In the 13th century, Broc de Bury was an English scholar and philosopher who studied at the University of Oxford. He wrote several works on logic and metaphysics, contributing to the intellectual discourse of his time.
During the 14th century, Broc de Montfort was a French knight who fought alongside Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years' War against the English. He was present at the lifting of the Siege of Orléans in 1429, a pivotal victory for the French forces.
In the 15th century, Broc de Genillé was a French nobleman and military commander who served under King Charles VII. He played a significant role in the reconquest of Normandy from the English during the latter stages of the Hundred Years' War.
While the name Broc has fallen out of common usage in modern times, it holds a rich historical legacy, particularly in the context of medieval France and the Norman cultural influence that spread across Europe.
People
Broc + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Broc 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
Broc: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Broc?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,448 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Broc 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 140,014 US residents.
Is Broc a common name?
We classify Broc as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,522 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Broc most popular?
The single biggest year for Broc was 2004, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Broc 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 Broc in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,207 people with the name Broc, or 0.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,047 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 Broc 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 Broc?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Broc appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,208 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Broc?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Broc is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.8%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Broc most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Broc in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (1,924 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 Broc in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Broc a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Broc 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 Broc still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Broc 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 Broc 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 Broc?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.