Brigid
Feminine · “the exalted one”
Brigid is one of the very few names that belonged to a goddess and then to a saint with almost no gap in between. The goddess held poetry, smithcraft and healing; the saint founded a monastery at Kildare; and Irish tradition has never been entirely sure where one stops and the other begins.
How old is the name Brigid?
Brigid first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Brigid alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 6,100 people named Brigid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Brigid most popular?
Brigid peaked in 1965, reaching #944 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 1,834 places below that high. See the whole 1965 chart.
Where it comes from
From Brigit to Brigid
The story of Brigid
Brigid was a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, associated with poetry, healing and the forge, and her feast fell at Imbolc at the start of February. Saint Brigid of Kildare, in the fifth and sixth centuries, took over both the date and a good deal of the reverence, and the two have been braided together in Irish practice ever since — the rush crosses made on her day are older than the church that blesses them. She is one of the three patron saints of Ireland. The name went out with Irish emigration and became so common in America for a period that it was used, unkindly, as a byword.
Meaning
the exalted one; the high one
Old Irish Brigit is built on brigh, 'power, strength, vigor', with a suffix that makes it superlative — the high one, the exalted one. The reading is well supported. The same root gives the modern Irish bri, meaning force or significance, and it is a distant relative of Sanskrit brhati, 'lofty'.
How the name formed
- Brigit
- Bríd
- Brigid
Related forms: Bríd · Bríghid · Bridget · Brìghde · Birgitta
Pronouncing Brigid
BRIJ-id
Two syllables, stress on the first, the g soft as in bridge. The Irish Bríd is one syllable — BREEJ — and sounds quite different from the English form though it is the same name.
Nicknames for Brigid
High
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 2001129 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #944reached in 1965
- Change vs 2023
- −9.0%61 in 2025, from 67
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.
Brigid in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bríd in Irish — same name
- Bríghid in Irish — spelling variant
- Bridget in English — spelling variant
- Brìghde in Scottish Gaelic — same name
- Birgitta in Swedish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois.
Brigids among us
people named Brigid are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Brigid
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 Otha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Brigid's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Otha climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Otha's path sketches the road Brigid is walking now.
Brigid 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 Brigid is headed
Brigid should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Brigid beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Brigid in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented figure in both Irish myth and church history, with a genuinely rich record behind her.
- Bridie and Bree are established short forms, one traditional and one modern.
- Deeply rooted in Ireland rather than borrowed from it, and still an ordinary name there.
- Brigid, Bridget, Bridgit and Brigitte are all in use and the spelling will be asked for constantly.
- The old short form Biddy acquired an insulting sense in English and is best known that way now.
- The name was so common among Irish immigrant women that it was once used as a slur, which some families will know and others will not.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Brigid to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Brigid? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Brigid
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Brigids are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,100 people named Brigid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Brigid in 2025?
- Brigid ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Brigid?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Brigid — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Brigid with classmates?
- Brigid will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Brigid
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Brigid? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Brigid 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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle