boy's name
Brent
BRENT
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 143,253
Northern Ireland
#257
2000 births
Brent means burned land, from ground cleared by fire — a place name recording a specific agricultural practice rather than a hill or a holy site, which are the two readings usually offered for it.
- Brent is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1970, when 4,300 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 28,581 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1885.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Brent over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 |
| 1890s | 5 |
| 1910s | 111 |
| 1920s | 199 |
| 1930s | 694 |
| 1940s | 4,390 |
| 1950s | 14,375 |
| 1960s | 27,242 |
| 1970s | 35,590 |
| 1980s | 31,491 |
| 1990s | 16,645 |
| 2000s | 6,303 |
| 2010s | 2,536 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 780 |
What Brent means
Brent means burned land, or a place cleared by burning. The Old English past participle of to burn was applied to ground prepared for cultivation by fire.
Where Brent comes from
Brent is an English place name from the Old English past participle of beornan, to burn — land cleared by fire, which was standard practice for bringing rough ground into cultivation. A separate Celtic Brent exists in Somerset, connected to a word for high or steep, which is where the hill reading comes from, and a third proposal links it to a Celtic word meaning holy. The London borough takes its name from the River Brent, which is a different word again. Its use as a given name is twentieth-century American; our records carry it from 1885 but the volume is postwar.
Brent in use
Brent peaked in the United States in 1970, when 4,300 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1510th in the United States on 116 births, 3914th in England and Wales and 5538th in France, across 143,253 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Its 1970 peak places it with Tamara and Deanna in the same year.
How popular is Brent?
In 2025, Brent was given to 116 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Brent is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Brent
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Brent also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Brent over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Brent in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Brent
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Brent — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Brent
What does the name Brent mean?
Burned land — ground cleared by fire for cultivation.
Does Brent mean hill?
A separate Celtic Brent in Somerset gives that reading, from a word for high or steep. The English one is about burning.
Is Brent related to the London borough?
That takes its name from the River Brent, which is a different word again.
How popular is Brent?
1510th in the United States, down from a 1970 peak of 4,269 births.
Is Brent a girl's or a boy's name?
Brent is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Brent?
Brent has 1 syllable.
Is Brent a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Brent currently ranks #1,510 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.