Bren

#9,854 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Clipping of Brenda or Brendan

Bren has been given to 736 babies in the U.S. since 1956. In 2025 it ranked #9,854 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2003, with 16 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 76% boys, 24% girls all-time.

Babies named Bren, 2025

1 in 474,000

Bren over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Bren over time

In 2025, Bren went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19562025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Bren: meaning, origin, and history

Clipping of Brenda or Brendan

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Bren means

Bren is a clipping of Brenda or Brendan.

Origin, language, and formation

Bren is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Brenda and Brendan.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 562 boys were recorded with the name Bren between 1956 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2003; its best national rank was #2,682 in 1964.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #9,708 in 2020 to #9,854 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,132 in 2015 to #9,854 in 2025.

In the United States, 174 girls were recorded with the name Bren between 1980 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 12 in 1999; its best national rank was #7,788 in 1999.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Bren?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 474,000; 7 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 244,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #9,854; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 328,272 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Bren sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bren. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Brens were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bren was born before 1995 — so the typical Bren is around 30 today.

Median birth year: 1995; About 30 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 20.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 44.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 562; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 20.6% of all recorded uses (116).

Is Bren rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: −746; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −146; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −2,722; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.64×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 43.8%; Peak was 2003 (16)
Years since peak: 22; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 29.1% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,682; 1964

Spellings of Bren

Bren is not the most common spelling — Brian is, with 30.9% against Bren's 0.01%.

Brian30.9%1,173,735
Bryan10.3%389,589
Fred9.1%343,655
Owen6.5%245,644
Brett4.2%159,109
Brent3.7%139,799
Glen3.3%125,706
Ben2.2%85,349

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Bren is used

Across 1910–2025, Bren was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 2,490,386 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Bren has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Bren around the world

Where Bren ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2013–2013
#4,685
in 2013
Canada
2019–2019
#2,943
in 2019
South Australia
1972–2010
#754
in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Bren by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #9,854
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 146
Best rank ever: #2,682; 1964
Peak year: 2003; 16 that year
First recorded: 1956
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 562
Count in 2025: 7

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #7,788; 1999
Peak year: 1999; 12 that year
First recorded: 1980
Last recorded: 2022
All-time count: 174
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Bren

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Brek Brees Breton Breyon Taren Brevin Breon Breck Brekken Brewer Breeze Joren Breyer Aaren Orren Brenin Ezren Ahren Toren Beren Arren Eren Aren Wren

Sibling names for Bren

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Alysa Gabriel Shakira Sydnie Madisen Sydnee Lesli Reanna

For a brother

Aaden Jarod Keven Zakary Kale Garret Samual Donavon

Explore around Bren

Top names of 2003, Bren's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1964 Boys' names starting with B