Brookelyn
A feminine name derived from the word "brook", possibly meaning "from the small stream".
Name Census estimates that about 3,313 living Americans carry the first name Brookelyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brookelyn today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brookelyn births was 2007 (244 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brookelyn. 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 Brookelyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 103,457 Americans
Peak year
2007
244 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,285
Tracked since 1979
Census
Brookelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,671 people with the first name Brookelyn, which placed it at #6,100 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
#6,100
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,671 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brookelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brookelyn is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.7% · 2,128
- Black or African American7.3% · 194
- Two or more races6.2% · 166
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 142
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 15
Popularity
Brookelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brookelyn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,716 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
Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brookelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Indiana recorded the most babies named Brookelyn, while Maryland, Oregon, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 56 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brookelyn
The name Brookelyn is a relatively modern feminine name that appears to be an elaborated form of the English word "brook," meaning a small stream or creek. Its origins can be traced back to the Old English word "broc," which was derived from the Proto-Germanic word "broka." While the name itself is not found in ancient texts or historical records, its root word "brook" has been in use since the early days of the English language.
The earliest recorded use of the name Brookelyn as a given name is believed to have emerged in the late 20th century, likely inspired by the growing trend of creating unique and inventive names by combining elements from nature and existing names. It is possible that the name was initially created by blending the words "brook" and "lyn" (a common suffix in feminine names) to form a fresh and distinctive moniker.
While there are no widely known historical figures with the exact name Brookelyn, there have been a few notable individuals who have borne similar names or variations. One such person is Brooklyne Harding, an American actress born in 1966, who has appeared in various television shows and movies. Additionally, Brooklyn Decker, an American model and actress born in 1987, shares a similar-sounding name, though spelled differently.
Another individual with a name reminiscent of Brookelyn is Brook Benton, an American singer and songwriter who was born Benjamin Franklin Peay in 1931 and passed away in 1988. He is best known for his hits like "It's Just a Matter of Time" and "Rainy Night in Georgia."
Brooke Shields, the American actress and model born in 1965, is another notable figure whose name bears resemblance to Brookelyn. She rose to fame as a child actress and has since had a successful career spanning several decades.
Lastly, Brooke Nevin, a Canadian actress born in 1982, shares a similar name. She is known for her roles in various television shows and movies, including "Breakout Kings" and "Animorphs."
People
Brookelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brookelyn 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
Brookelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brookelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,313 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brookelyn 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 103,457 US residents.
Is Brookelyn a common name?
We classify Brookelyn as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,365 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brookelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Brookelyn was 2007, when 244 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,671 people with the name Brookelyn, or 0.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,100 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 Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brookelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,663 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Brookelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brookelyn is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Brookelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brookelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (2,128 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 Brookelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brookelyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn 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 Brookelyn as a first name?
See how many Americans are named Brookelyn on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.