girl's name
Brooke
BRUUK
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 237,933
the United States
#313
2025 births
Brooke is a girl's name from the English word for a small stream. It charts in all seven markets we track, and unusually its three strongest are Northern Ireland, Scotland and Ireland — all ahead of the United States, where it peaked.
- Brooke is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1996, when 6,749 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,411 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Brooke started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1914.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Brooke over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 21 |
| 1920s | 60 |
| 1930s | 103 |
| 1940s | 587 |
| 1950s | 967 |
| 1960s | 2,441 |
| 1970s | 14,982 |
| 1980s | 35,267 |
| 1990s | 60,825 |
| 2000s | 54,797 |
| 2010s | 23,838 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,633 |
What Brooke means
Brooke means a small stream. It is the ordinary English word used unchanged, so the meaning is exact rather than reconstructed from older elements the way most names of its age must be.
Where Brooke comes from
Brooke is the English brook, a small stream, from the Old English broc. It began as a topographic surname for someone living beside one, and became a given name in twentieth-century America — part of the same movement of landscape nouns into naming that produced Heather, Dale, Glenn and Craig. The final e is a surname spelling rather than a feminine ending. Its rise as a girls' name is comparatively late and its peak sits in the 1990s, well after the rest of that group.
Brooke in use
Brooke peaked in the United States in 1996, when 6,749 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in all seven markets — 201st in Northern Ireland on 9 births, 209th in Scotland on 18, 219th in Ireland on 20, 229th in Canada, 313th in the United States on 972, 354th in England and Wales on 121 and 2128th in France — across 237,933 lifetime births. That the three Irish and Scottish markets all rank it above America is unusual for a name of American origin.
How popular is Brooke?
In 2025, Brooke was given to 972 babies in the United States, ranking #313 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Brooke 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 Brooke
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Brooke also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Brooke over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Brooke 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 Brooke
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Brooke — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Brooke
What does the name Brooke mean?
A small stream — the ordinary English word, from the Old English broc.
Is it Brooke or Brook?
Brooke with the e is the surname spelling and the more common given name; Brook is the plain noun.
Where is Brooke most used?
Northern Ireland at 201st, Scotland at 209th and Ireland at 219th — all ahead of the United States.
How popular is Brooke?
313th in the United States, down from a 1996 peak of 6,749 births.
Is Brooke a girl's or a boy's name?
Brooke is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Brooke?
Brooke has 1 syllable.
Is Brooke a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Brooke currently ranks #201 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.
Was Brooke originally a boys' or girls' name?
Brooke was given mostly to boys in the earliest US birth records and is now given almost entirely to girls.