boy's name
Bruce
BROOSS
- Origin Norman
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 395,970
the United States
#537
2025 births
Bruce is a boy's name from a Norman place name, and Scotland's most famous king carried it as an import — the Bruces came from Normandy, not from Scotland. Our data marks it stable across six markets.
- Bruce is a name of Norman origin.
- Peaked in 1956, when 14,693 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 5,941 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Bruce 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 | 499 |
| 1890s | 629 |
| 1900s | 841 |
| 1910s | 5,648 |
| 1920s | 13,308 |
| 1930s | 24,233 |
| 1940s | 72,295 |
| 1950s | 136,786 |
| 1960s | 74,931 |
| 1970s | 21,273 |
| 1980s | 14,425 |
| 1990s | 7,911 |
| 2000s | 5,536 |
| 2010s | 6,638 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,322 |
What Bruce means
Bruce comes from a Norman place name whose meaning is not securely known. Brix in Normandy is the usual identification, and the willowlands reading often given for it is not well supported.
Where Bruce comes from
Bruce is a Norman territorial surname, generally traced to Brix near Cherbourg, though the identification is not certain and the meaning of the place name is unrecovered. The willowlands gloss that circulates has no good support. The family came to England with the Conquest and to Scotland shortly after, and Robert the Bruce — who killed his rival in a church, was excommunicated, and then destroyed an English army at Bannockburn in 1314 — was the seventh of his line to hold the name. So Scotland's defining national hero bore a French place name, which is a fair summary of Norman-era Britain. Its use as a given name is nineteenth-century.
Bruce in use
Bruce peaked in the United States in 1956, when 14,693 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 537th in the United States on 558 births, 744th in Ireland, 811th in Scotland, 863rd in England and Wales and 2852nd in France, across 395,970 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Bruce?
In 2025, Bruce was given to 558 babies in the United States, ranking #537 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Bruce 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 Bruce
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Bruce also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Bruce over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Bruce
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Bruce 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.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Brucie
Sibling names for Bruce
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Bruce — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Bruce
What does the name Bruce mean?
It comes from a Norman place name, usually identified as Brix, whose own meaning is not recovered.
Is Bruce a Scottish name?
It became one, but the family were Normans. Robert the Bruce bore a French place name.
Does Bruce mean willowlands?
That reading circulates widely but has no good support.
How popular is Bruce?
537th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Bruce a girl's or a boy's name?
Bruce is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Bruce?
Bruce has 1 syllable.
What are the nicknames for Bruce?
Bruce is usually shortened to Bruno.
Is Bruce a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Bruce currently ranks #462 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.