Bruin
Masculine · “bear”
Bruin is a bear in Dutch — and the word entered English from Reynard the Fox, where the bear is a character called Bruin.
How old is the name Bruin?
Bruin first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Bruin is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Bruin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bruin most popular?
Bruin peaked in 2021, reaching #1964 nationally. Today it ranks #2284, 320 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From bruin to Bruin
The story of Bruin
Germanic peoples appear to have avoided the bear's real name and called it 'the brown one' instead — a taboo substitution that worked so well the original word is lost. Dutch bruin became the bear's name in the Reynard stories and then an English word. Bruin appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
bear; brown
From the Dutch bruin, 'brown', used as the bear's name in the Reynard cycle, from which English took it as a word for a bear. The Germanic root for brown may itself lie behind 'bear', as a taboo replacement for the animal's true name. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- bruin
- Bruin
Related forms: Bruin · Braun · Bruno
Pronouncing Bruin
BROO-in
Two syllables, stress on the first. Dutch says BROWN with one.
Nicknames for Bruin
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
- 1994
- Most boys named
- 202176 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1964reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- +64.9%61 in 2025, from 37
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.
Bruin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bruin in Dutch — same name
- Braun in German — related form
- Bruno in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, Texas.
Bruins among us
people named Bruin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 28,001 born in 2025 was named Bruin
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 Amer test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bruin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Amer climbed just as high around 1997, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Amer's path sketches the road Bruin is walking now.
Bruin 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 Bruin is headed
Bruin 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.
Bruin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bruin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That 'bear' may be a taboo substitute for a lost word is a first-rate fact.
- The bear meaning is concrete and strong.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- It is an English word for a bear and reads as one.
- Dutch and English pronounce it entirely differently.
- A university's teams are a strong American association.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Bruin
Masculine · #2284 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bruins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Bruin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bruin in 2025?
- Bruin ranks #2284 among US boy names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bruin?
- About 1 in every 28,001 US boys born in 2025 was named Bruin — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bruin with classmates?
- Bruin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bruin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aman#2284 · Flint#2284 · Sulayman#2284 · Abbas#2284 · Zacari#2284 · Quade#2284 · Carsyn#2284 · Natan#2284
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bruin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bruin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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