Brazil
Feminine · “ember-wood”
Brazil is given to both — 653 girls and 69 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Brazil is the only country named after a commodity — the brazilwood tree, whose heart burns red like an ember.
How old is the name Brazil?
Brazil first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Brazil is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Brazil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Brazil most popular?
Brazil peaked in 2021, reaching #3883 nationally. Today it ranks #4661, 778 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From brasa to Brazil
The story of Brazil
Red dye was expensive and brazilwood produced it in quantity, so the coast the Portuguese found was called the land of brazilwood and the name stuck to the country. The word brasa, an ember, is the same one behind brazier. There is also a legendary island Hy-Brasil in Irish tradition, unrelated, which appeared on European maps for four hundred years.
Meaning
ember-wood
From Portuguese pau-brasil, from brasa, a glowing coal; the tree yields a deep red dye and was Europe's first export from the coast. The country was named for the trade, not the trade for the country.
How the name formed
- brasa
- pau-brasil
- Brazil
Related forms: Brasil · Brasil
Pronouncing Brazil
bruh-ZIL
Two syllables with the stress on the second. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Brazil
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1989
- Most girls named
- 202138 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3883reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- +26.1%29 in 2025, from 23
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Brazil in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Brasil in Portuguese — spelling variant
- Brasil in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, Illinois, Texas.
Brazils among us
people named Brazil are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 55,423 born in 2025 was named Brazil
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marcea test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Brazil's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marcea climbed just as high around 1948, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marcea's path sketches the road Brazil is walking now.
Brazil sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Brazil is headed
Brazil should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Brazil beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Brazil in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely unusual naming history.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Six letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- It is a country, and will be read as a place rather than a person.
- Brasil is the Portuguese spelling and both will be written.
- A place name of this kind invites comment throughout life.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Brazil to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Brazil
Feminine · #4661 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Brazils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Brazil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Brazil in 2025?
- Brazil ranks #4661 among US girl names in 2025, with 29 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Brazil?
- About 1 in every 55,423 US girls born in 2025 was named Brazil — 29 in all.
- Will my child share the name Brazil with classmates?
- Brazil will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Brazil
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ellenor#4661 · Roselie#4661 · Marni#4661 · Menucha#4661 · Infinity#4661 · Lilya#4661 · Railyn#4661 · Zada#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Brazil? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Brazil and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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