How Many People Are Named Bret?
An estimated 27,133 people in the United States have the first name Bret. It is predominantly male (99.2%). The average bearer is 49 years old, and Bret peaked in popularity in 1959 with 1,839 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Bret as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Bret paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Bret is overwhelmingly male, 232 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
27,133
About 1 in 12,632 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.2% confidence
Average Age
49
years old
Peak Year
1959
1,839 births
Total Registered
30,030
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Bret
Bret is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 30,030 total births registered, 99.2% were male.
Bret as a male name
Ranked #4,712 in 2024
21 male births in 2024
Peak: 1959 (1,839 births)
Bret as a female name
Ranked #15,161 in 2011
6 female births in 2011
Peak: 1994 (19 births)
Bret: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Bret span from the 1920s to the 2020s, covering 10 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 8,418 babies were registered. Bret has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Bret by Decade
How has Bret tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Bret by State
Birth registrations for Bret span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Ohio, Illinois. The lowest are in Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi. On average, about 545 Brets were registered per state.
Bret + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Bret as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Bret
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Bret: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bret?
We estimate approximately 27,133 people named Bret are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 12,632 Americans share this first name.
Is Bret a common name?
Bret is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 30,030 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Bret most popular?
Bret reached peak popularity in 1959, when 1,839 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Bret is approximately 49 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Bret a male name?
Bret is predominantly male. 99.2% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Bret Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Bret Smith, Bret Johnson, Bret Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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