Bruce — #537 US boys' name
386,313 babies named Bruce in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1956. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 96% of names given to boys today.
35% of everyone ever named Bruce was born in this single decade.
14,660 babies were named Bruce in 1956 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Bruce
The Social Security Administration has registered 386,313 babies named Bruce between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Bruce currently holds the #537 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1956, when 14,660 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Bruce performed strongest in the 1950s, accumulating 136,459 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Bruce shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 37,486 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by California and Pennsylvania. In total, SSA state-level files list Bruce in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Bruce in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 386,313 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Bruce at a glance
Top 1,000 boys' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Bruce popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1956)
- 14,660
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #537 among boys.
386,313 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1956 with 14,660 births in a single year.
Bruce popularity over time — girls
1,395 total births recorded since 1895 (Bruce as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Bruce accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Bruce by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1950s
- 136,459 births that decade — 35% of Bruce's all-time total
Bruce decade highlights
- Peak decade 136,459 births
- Runner-up 74,637 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1950s was Bruce's strongest decade
136,459 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 35% of all-time use.
Bruce by state
Where Bruce concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 37,486 | 9.7% |
| #2 | California | | 30,706 | 7.9% |
| #3 | Pennsylvania | | 24,461 | 6.3% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 21,433 | 5.5% |
| #5 | Ohio | | 21,098 | 5.5% |
| #6 | Michigan | | 20,974 | 5.4% |
| #7 | Minnesota | | 14,446 | 3.7% |
| #8 | Massachusetts | | 14,159 | 3.7% |
37,486 of 386,313 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 9.7% of nationwide
- California 7.9% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 6.3% of nationwide
- Illinois 5.5% of nationwide
- Ohio 5.5% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 9.7% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Bruce appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Bruce
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.