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Bristol

#728 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Bristol city name

Bristol has been given to 11,616 babies in the U.S. since 1973. In 2025 it ranked #728 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2019, with 788 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% girls, 5% boys all-time.

Babies named Bristol, 2025

1 in 8,680

Bristol over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Bristol over time

In 2025, Bristol went to 98% girls and 2% boys.

19152025

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.

Bristol: meaning, origin, and history

Bristol city name

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Bristol means

Bristol is documented as a given name taken from the city name. That is its immediate naming reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11,043 girls were recorded with the name Bristol between 1973 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 788 in 2019; its best national rank was #390 in 2019.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #491 in 2020 to #728 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #448 in 2015 to #728 in 2025.

In the United States, 573 boys were recorded with the name Bristol between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 40 in 2009; its best national rank was #2,906 in 1919.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,741 in 2020 to #9,041 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,726 in 2015 to #9,041 in 2025.

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.

How common is Bristol?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 8,680
382 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 4,210
0.02% of girls
Rank, 2025
#728
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
6,017 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Bristol sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 1001%
School of 5006%

Put another way: gather 6,017 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bristol. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Bristols were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bristol was born before 2016 — so the typical Bristol is around 9 today.

Median birth year
2016
About 9 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
61.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
97.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
11,043
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 61.3% of all recorded uses (6,767).

Is Bristol 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
−89
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−237
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−280
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.54×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
48.5%
Peak was 2019 (788)
Years since peak
6
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
46.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#390
2019

Spellings of Bristol

Bristol is not the most common spelling — Cristal is, with 33.2% against Bristol's 23.1%.

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 Bristol is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Bristol was most concentrated in West Virginia — about 1 in 410 girls, against 1 in 2,326 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 50,000).

2244 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1West Virginia1 in 410
  2. 2North Dakota1 in 521
  3. 3Alaska1 in 685
  4. 4Iowa1 in 775
  5. 5Kansas1 in 781
  6. 6South Dakota1 in 806
  7. 7Kentucky1 in 820
  8. 8Montana1 in 1,031

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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.

Geographically, Bristol is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 82% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Where Bristol is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Bristol was most concentrated in Indiana — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 689,553 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Indiana1 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. Bristol has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Bristol around the world

Where Bristol 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.

  • Canada
    2009–2024
    #1,854
    in 2024

Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Bristol

People whose public names include Bristol, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Bristol by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#728
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 237
Best rank ever
#390
2019
Peak year
2019
788 that year
First recorded
1973
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
11,043
Count in 2025
382

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,041
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,300
Best rank ever
#2,906
1919
Peak year
2009
40 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
573
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Bristol

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

BrinleyBriellaBritanyBrianneBrionnaBridgettBrigitteBritneyBrileyBrigidBrinleeBrigetteBrielleBriandaBrittonBrisaBrittaBrittniBriarBrienneBrittaniBriseisBridgetBrissa

Names with a curve like Bristol

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Bristol, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

JemmaNylahCharleyCharleighLylahAdelynnAverieBriellaBraelynnBrinleyKensleyMckinley

Sibling names for Bristol

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

Explore around Bristol

Top names of 2019, Bristol's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2019Girls' names starting with B