Bren

Where Bren comes from

The dictionaries list Bren as a given name — a female given name, clipping of Brenda — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

Along the way
  1. 1956
    First appearance
    #3,942 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1964
    Peak, #2,665
    10 babies named Bren — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1965
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #3,930.
  4. 2014
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name, clipping of Brenda.
  • A male given name, clipping of Brendan.
Namesakes

We look up famous namesakes for names that have made the top 1,000. Bren hasn't yet.

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.