boy's name
Brett
BRET
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 172,181
Northern Ireland
#361
2008 births
Brett means a Breton — someone from Brittany, which is named for the Britons who fled there when the Anglo-Saxons arrived. So the name records a migration in the opposite direction to the usual one.
- Brett is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1986, when 4,904 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 23,023 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1926.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Brett over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1920s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920s | 10 |
| 1930s | 38 |
| 1940s | 547 |
| 1950s | 7,364 |
| 1960s | 26,131 |
| 1970s | 29,580 |
| 1980s | 42,339 |
| 1990s | 36,199 |
| 2000s | 14,937 |
| 2010s | 4,087 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,281 |
What Brett means
Brett means a Breton, a native of Brittany. It is an ethnic byname rather than a description, given to mark where a family had come from.
Where Brett comes from
Brett is a Norman byname meaning a Breton. Brittany takes its name from Britons who crossed the Channel from the fifth century onward as Anglo-Saxon settlement pushed west, carrying their Brittonic language with them — which is why Breton is closer to Welsh and Cornish than to French. Bretons then came back with William in 1066 as part of the Norman force, and English recorded them as le Bret or le Bretun. The name marks a family that had made the round trip across roughly six hundred years.
Brett in use
Brett peaked in the United States in 1986, when 4,904 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 1385th in the United States on 144 births, across 172,181 lifetime births. Our records carry it only from 1926, so despite a Norman origin its measured life is entirely modern and entirely American.
How popular is Brett?
In 2025, Brett was given to 144 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Brett 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 Brett
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Brett also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Brett over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Brett 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 Brett
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Brett — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Brett
What does the name Brett mean?
A Breton — someone from Brittany.
Why is Brittany named after Britain?
Britons crossed the Channel from the fifth century as Anglo-Saxon settlement pushed west, and took their language with them.
Is Breton close to French?
No — it is a Brittonic language, closer to Welsh and Cornish.
How popular is Brett?
1385th in the United States, the only market where it charts.
Is Brett a girl's or a boy's name?
Brett is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Brett?
Brett has 1 syllable.
Is Brett a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Brett currently ranks #1,385 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.