Bryona
A feminine name possibly derived from the French word for bryony vine.
Name Census estimates that about 177 living Americans carry the first name Bryona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bryona today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bryona births was 1999 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bryona. 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
177
~ 1 in 1,936,465 Americans
Peak year
1999
15 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2008 SSA rank
#11,765
Tracked since 1990
Census
Bryona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 181 people with the first name Bryona, which placed it at #40,888 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
#40,888
National first-name rank
People counted
181
181 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bryona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bryona is Black at 43.6%. The next largest groups are White (37.6%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Bryona 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 Bryona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.6% · 79
- White37.6% · 68
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 16
- Two or more races8.3% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 3
Popularity
Bryona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bryona from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 92 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
Bryona 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 Bryona 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 Bryona
The name Bryona has its origins traced back to ancient Greece, where it was derived from the word "bryon," meaning "moss" or "seaweed." This connection to nature and the plant world is a recurring theme throughout the history of this name.
In the 5th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Aristotle mentioned a species of moss called "bryonia" in his works on botany. This is believed to be one of the earliest recorded instances of a word resembling the name Bryona.
During the Middle Ages, the name Bryona appeared in various historical records and manuscripts, often associated with herbalists and healers who worked with medicinal plants. In the 12th century, a nun named Bryona was renowned for her knowledge of herbal remedies and her work in tending to the sick in her monastery.
The Renaissance period saw the rise of notable individuals bearing the name Bryona. One such figure was Bryona Vasari (1511-1574), an Italian botanist and artist who created intricate illustrations of plants and flowers. Her work was highly influential in the field of botanical illustration.
In the 17th century, Bryona Culpeper (1616-1654) was an English herbalist and author who wrote extensively on the medicinal properties of plants. Her book, "The Complete Herbal," became a widely-used reference work in its time.
Moving into the 19th century, Bryona Nightingale (1820-1910) was a British nurse and social reformer who played a significant role in the establishment of modern nursing practices. She is remembered for her pioneering work in improving sanitary conditions in hospitals during the Crimean War.
Another noteworthy figure was Bryona Blackwell (1844-1924), an American businesswoman and entrepreneur. She founded the Bryona Blackwell Company, which produced and marketed a popular line of herbal remedies and tonics.
Throughout history, the name Bryona has been associated with individuals who have made contributions in fields related to nature, healing, and botany. Its connection to the natural world and the study of plants has been a consistent thread woven into the tapestry of this name's heritage.
People
Bryona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bryona 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
Bryona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bryona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 177 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bryona 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 1,936,465 US residents.
Is Bryona a common name?
We classify Bryona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bryona most popular?
The single biggest year for Bryona was 1999, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bryona is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bryona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 181 people with the name Bryona, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,888 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 Bryona 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 Bryona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bryona leans strongly female. 182 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Bryona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bryona is Black at 43.6%. The next largest groups are White (37.6%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Bryona most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Bryona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.6% (79 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 Bryona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bryona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bryona 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 Bryona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bryona 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 Bryona 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 Bryona as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Bryona, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.