Brigida
Feminine · “exalted one”
Brigida is the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of an Irish name that English writes several other ways, and American records treat it as a name of its own. The Irish figure behind it has a founding legend built entirely on a trick with a piece of cloth.
How old is the name Brigida?
Brigida first appears in US birth records in 1911 — 114 years ago. The typical Brigida alive today was born around 1965, making them about 60 years old. About 400 people named Brigida are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Brigida most popular?
Brigida peaked in 1911, reaching #1956 nationally. See the whole 1911 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Brigit to Brigida
The story of Brigida
The legend says that Brigid asked the King of Leinster for land to build her monastery and he refused, so she asked for as much ground as her cloak would cover. He agreed, amused. Four of her companions took a corner each and walked outward, and the cloak spread across the whole plain of Kildare until the king called them off and granted the land. It is a folk motif that turns up across Europe and much further — a piece of hide cut into strips to enclose a city is the same story told about Carthage — and its presence in her life is a fair indication of how the material was assembled. The monastery at Kildare was real, was double, held men and women, and she is said to have governed it.
Meaning
exalted one
From an Irish word meaning high or exalted, which was the name of a goddess before it was the name of a saint — the two are so entangled that scholars disagree about where one stops. The Italian and Spanish form arrived through the Latin of the church.
How the name formed
- Brigit
- Brigida
Related forms: Brigida · Brígida · Bríd · Birgitta
Pronouncing Brigida
BREE-hee-dah
Three syllables with the stress at the front, which the Spanish accent marks. Italian says BREE-jee-dah with a soft g, and the two national readings differ noticeably.
Nicknames for Brigida
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
- 1911
- Most girls named
- 197519 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1956reached in 1911
- Change vs 2007
- −44.4%5 in 2009, from 9
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.
Brigida in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Brigida in Italian — same name
- Brígida in Spanish — same name
- Bríd in Irish — same name
- Birgitta in Swedish — related form
Brigidas among us
people named Brigida are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Brigida sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is documented and belongs to a genuinely ancient name.
- It is a standing name in three southern European languages.
- Front stress on three syllables is comfortable for English speakers.
- Spanish and Italian say the g completely differently.
- Brigitte, Bridget and Brigit will all be written for it.
- English readers will give the g its English value, which matches neither.
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What they receive
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Brigida
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Brigidas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Brigida are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Brigida in 2025?
- Brigida is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Brigida with classmates?
- Brigida will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Brigida? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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