Bruin
A Dutch given name meaning "brown" or "brown bear".
Name Census estimates that about 607 living Americans carry the first name Bruin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bruin today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bruin births was 2021 (76 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bruin. 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 Bruin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
607
~ 1 in 564,669 Americans
Peak year
2021
76 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,217
Tracked since 1994
Census
Bruin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 388 people with the first name Bruin, which placed it at #24,718 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
#24,718
National first-name rank
People counted
388
388 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bruin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bruin is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (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 Bruin 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 Bruin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.6% · 332
- Two or more races7.0% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Bruin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bruin from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 259 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bruin 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 Bruin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bruins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Bruin, while Washington, Utah, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bruin
The given name Bruin has its roots in the Middle Dutch and Middle Flemish languages, stemming from the word "bruin" which means "brown" or "dusky." This name originated in the Low Countries during the medieval period, spanning modern-day Belgium, Netherlands, and parts of northern France.
One of the earliest known references to the name Bruin can be found in the 13th-century Middle Dutch epic poem "Van den vos Reynaerde" (Reynard the Fox), where it is used as a proper name for a bear character. This literary work is considered a significant piece of medieval Dutch literature and showcases the name's early association with the animal.
In the 14th century, the name Bruin gained prominence as a personal name in the Low Countries, particularly among the Dutch-speaking population. One notable bearer of this name was Bruin de Jonge (1330-1392), a Flemish nobleman and military leader who played a crucial role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
During the Renaissance period, the name Bruin continued to be used across the Low Countries. A famous example is the Dutch painter Bruin Harmensz Bakhuizen (1629-1708), renowned for his marine landscapes and seascapes. His works are displayed in numerous museums, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In the 18th century, the name Bruin found its way into English literature through the works of Jonathan Swift. In his satirical novel "Gulliver's Travels," published in 1726, one of the characters is named Bruin, a reference to the bear-like qualities of the character.
Another notable bearer of the name was Bruin Romkes (1753-1835), a Frisian astronomer and mathematician from the Netherlands. He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and is credited with discovering several comets and asteroids.
While the name Bruin has its origins in the Low Countries, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world over time. Some other notable individuals with this given name include Bruin Richardson (1772-1828), an American politician and soldier from Massachusetts, and Bruin Zambon (1935-2009), an Italian racing cyclist and Olympic medalist.
People
Bruin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bruin 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
Bruin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bruin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 607 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bruin 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 564,669 US residents.
Is Bruin a common name?
We classify Bruin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 612 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bruin most popular?
The single biggest year for Bruin was 2021, when 76 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bruin is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bruin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 388 people with the name Bruin, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,718 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 Bruin 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 Bruin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bruin leans strongly male. 376 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 14 female bearers (3.6%). 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 Bruin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bruin is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (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 Bruin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bruin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.6% (332 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 Bruin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bruin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bruin 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 Bruin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bruin 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 Bruin 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 Bruin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.