Bruna
Feminine · “Brown”
Bruna is the feminine of Bruno, and the Germanic element behind it is doing double duty: brun means brown, and it also means a breastplate or armor. Which one the name carries has been argued about for a very long time.
How old is the name Bruna?
Bruna first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Bruna alive today was born around 1950, making them about 75 years old. About 600 people named Bruna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bruna most popular?
Bruna peaked in 1915, reaching #1339 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 4,215 places below that high. See the whole 1915 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From brun to Bruna
The story of Bruna
Bruno of Cologne founded the Carthusian order in 1084 and Bruno of Querfurt was a missionary bishop killed on the Prussian frontier; several German emperors and a pope carried the name. Italian took Bruno and Bruna, and both have been ordinary there; Portuguese and Brazilian use is very heavy, and Bruna is among the commoner Brazilian women's names. Its American record follows Italian immigration, with a peak in 1915 at the height of that wave, and more recently Brazilian families have contributed. It has been rare in American records since 1940.
Meaningscholars disagree
Brown; or armor
From the Germanic element brun, which carries two senses that were probably distinct originally: brown, the color, and a word for a breastplate or armor, cognate with Old Norse brynja. Both are proposed for the name Bruno and neither is settled. Italian and Portuguese Bruna is the feminine, and the same ambiguity applies.
How the name formed
- brun
- Bruno
- Bruna
Related forms: Bruna · Bruna · Brunhild · Bruna
Pronouncing Bruna
BROO-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Italian and Portuguese say it the same way; the Portuguese final a is more reduced than the Italian.
Nicknames for Bruna
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
- 1907
- Most girls named
- 192034 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1339reached in 1915
- Change vs 2023
- +15.8%22 in 2025, from 19
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.
Bruna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bruna in Italian — same name
- Bruna in Portuguese — same name
- Brunhild in German — related form
- Bruna in Croatian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, California.
Brunas among us
people named Bruna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Bruna
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 Wilmer test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bruna's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Wilmer climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Wilmer's path sketches the road Bruna is walking now.
Bruna 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
Bruna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bruna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables travel easily.
- It is spelled identically in Italian, Portuguese and Croatian.
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- The meaning is contested between two quite different senses.
- It is unfamiliar in English-speaking countries and will be spelled out.
- It is strongly associated with the Italian immigrant generations before 1930.
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What they receive
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Bruna
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Brunas 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 Bruna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bruna in 2025?
- Bruna ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bruna?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Bruna — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bruna with classmates?
- Bruna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bruna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bruna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bruna and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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