Bruce
Bruce was given to 558 boys in 2025, #536 among boys’ names; 388,275 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 242,000 Americans named Bruce and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (62% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 58 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Bruce by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Bruce mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Bruce is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
From a Norman place name, Brix, of disputed meaning.
/bɹuːs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Bruce?
#536 among boys’ names, 2025
Bruce fell from #404 in 2015 to #536 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.40 to 0.33 per 1,000.
14,693 babies in 1956, the peak
Bruce peaked in 1956, when 14,693 babies were given it (14,660 boys, #33 among boys’ names). The 558 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 558 | #536 | 0.33 |
| 2024 | 555 | #536 | 0.32 |
| 2023 | 547 | #542 | 0.32 |
| 2022 | 526 | #563 | 0.30 |
| 2021 | 549 | #535 | 0.31 |
| 2020 | 587 | #498 | 0.34 |
| 2019 | 624 | #471 | 0.35 |
| 2018 | 614 | #473 | 0.34 |
| 2017 | 722 | #429 | 0.39 |
| 2016 | 702 | #441 | 0.37 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 766 | #404 | 0.40 |
| 2014 | 773 | #401 | 0.40 |
| 2013 | 710 | #417 | 0.38 |
| 2012 | 668 | #422 | 0.35 |
| 2011 | 574 | #469 | 0.30 |
| 2010 | 485 | #533 | 0.25 |
| 2009 | 586 | #466 | 0.30 |
| 2008 | 581 | #478 | 0.28 |
| 2007 | 636 | #439 | 0.31 |
| 2006 | 550 | #481 | 0.27 |
| 2005 | 490 | #504 | 0.25 |
| 2004 | 532 | #474 | 0.27 |
| 2003 | 509 | #486 | 0.26 |
| 2002 | 510 | #467 | 0.26 |
| 2001 | 579 | #424 | 0.30 |
| 2000 | 563 | #432 | 0.29 |
| 1999 | 589 | #407 | 0.31 |
| 1998 | 652 | #383 | 0.34 |
| 1997 | 631 | #383 | 0.33 |
| 1996 | 663 | #364 | 0.35 |
| 1995 | 665 | #362 | 0.35 |
| 1994 | 747 | #331 | 0.39 |
| 1993 | 822 | #321 | 0.42 |
| 1992 | 922 | #291 | 0.46 |
| 1991 | 1,039 | #261 | 0.51 |
| 1990 | 1,170 | #239 | 0.57 |
| 1989 | 1,212 | #222 | 0.61 |
| 1988 | 1,286 | #205 | 0.67 |
| 1987 | 1,304 | #199 | 0.70 |
| 1986 | 1,348 | #189 | 0.73 |
| 1985 | 1,412 | #183 | 0.76 |
| 1984 | 1,460 | #175 | 0.81 |
| 1983 | 1,439 | #178 | 0.80 |
| 1982 | 1,588 | #169 | 0.88 |
| 1981 | 1,634 | #164 | 0.91 |
| 1980 | 1,650 | #157 | 0.92 |
| 1979 | 1,712 | #152 | 1.0 |
| 1978 | 1,701 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1977 | 1,700 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1976 | 1,689 | #148 | 1.1 |
| 1975 | 1,789 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1974 | 1,854 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1973 | 1,914 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1972 | 2,313 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1971 | 2,973 | #108 | 1.7 |
| 1970 | 3,482 | #94 | 1.9 |
| 1969 | 4,041 | #72 | 2.3 |
| 1968 | 4,486 | #61 | 2.6 |
| 1967 | 5,067 | #55 | 2.9 |
| 1966 | 5,843 | #53 | 3.3 |
| 1965 | 6,325 | #50 | 3.4 |
| 1964 | 7,890 | #46 | 4.0 |
| 1963 | 9,275 | #43 | 4.6 |
| 1962 | 10,038 | #41 | 4.9 |
| 1961 | 10,705 | #40 | 5.0 |
| 1960 | 10,972 | #39 | 5.1 |
| 1959 | 11,914 | #38 | 5.6 |
| 1958 | 12,472 | #36 | 5.9 |
| 1957 | 13,882 | #34 | 6.4 |
| 1956 | 14,660 | #33 | 6.9 |
| 1955 | 14,082 | #32 | 6.8 |
| 1954 | 14,155 | #30 | 6.9 |
| 1953 | 14,048 | #28 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | 14,480 | #25 | 7.4 |
| 1951 | 14,090 | #26 | 7.5 |
| 1950 | 12,674 | #26 | 7.1 |
| 1949 | 12,265 | #26 | 6.9 |
| 1948 | 11,065 | #28 | 6.3 |
| 1947 | 10,524 | #29 | 5.8 |
| 1946 | 8,459 | #32 | 5.2 |
| 1945 | 5,615 | #48 | 4.2 |
| 1944 | 5,262 | #51 | 3.9 |
| 1943 | 5,431 | #51 | 3.8 |
| 1942 | 5,385 | #50 | 3.9 |
| 1941 | 4,302 | #51 | 3.5 |
| 1940 | 3,789 | #55 | 3.3 |
| 1939 | 3,233 | #64 | 2.9 |
| 1938 | 3,127 | #66 | 2.8 |
| 1937 | 2,810 | #70 | 2.6 |
| 1936 | 2,630 | #73 | 2.5 |
| 1935 | 2,447 | #77 | 2.3 |
| 1934 | 2,401 | #78 | 2.3 |
| 1933 | 2,037 | #91 | 2.1 |
| 1932 | 1,935 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1931 | 1,787 | #101 | 1.7 |
| 1930 | 1,712 | #109 | 1.6 |
| 1929 | 1,618 | #112 | 1.5 |
| 1928 | 1,628 | #112 | 1.5 |
| 1927 | 1,459 | #123 | 1.3 |
| 1926 | 1,413 | #127 | 1.3 |
| 1925 | 1,354 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1924 | 1,311 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1923 | 1,224 | #135 | 1.1 |
| 1922 | 1,106 | #142 | 1.0 |
| 1921 | 1,070 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1920 | 996 | #149 | 0.94 |
| 1919 | 880 | #151 | 0.90 |
| 1918 | 988 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1917 | 805 | #156 | 0.87 |
| 1916 | 740 | #162 | 0.83 |
| 1915 | 663 | #172 | 0.78 |
| 1914 | 530 | #169 | 0.81 |
| 1913 | 390 | #175 | 0.76 |
| 1912 | 328 | #178 | 0.76 |
| 1911 | 155 | #197 | 0.69 |
| 1910 | 98 | #239 | 0.50 |
| 1909 | 121 | #185 | 0.74 |
| 1908 | 99 | #205 | 0.64 |
| 1907 | 89 | #213 | 0.61 |
| 1906 | 77 | #224 | 0.58 |
| 1905 | 85 | #205 | 0.64 |
| 1904 | 87 | #198 | 0.68 |
| 1903 | 67 | #220 | 0.56 |
| 1902 | 60 | #235 | 0.49 |
| 1901 | 65 | #211 | 0.61 |
| 1900 | 86 | #210 | 0.57 |
| 1899 | 66 | #200 | 0.62 |
| 1898 | 64 | #219 | 0.52 |
| 1897 | 58 | #224 | 0.51 |
| 1896 | 69 | #217 | 0.58 |
| 1895 | 65 | #213 | 0.55 |
| 1894 | 63 | #211 | 0.54 |
| 1893 | 64 | #212 | 0.57 |
| 1892 | 60 | #226 | 0.49 |
| 1891 | 50 | #227 | 0.49 |
| 1890 | 59 | #217 | 0.53 |
| 1889 | 62 | #206 | 0.56 |
| 1888 | 45 | #262 | 0.37 |
| 1887 | 44 | #241 | 0.43 |
| 1886 | 55 | #228 | 0.50 |
| 1885 | 56 | #213 | 0.52 |
| 1884 | 40 | #269 | 0.35 |
| 1883 | 50 | #216 | 0.48 |
| 1882 | 66 | #193 | 0.58 |
| 1881 | 34 | #270 | 0.34 |
| 1880 | 47 | #241 | 0.43 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Bruce a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Bruce has been given almost only to boys: 1,395 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Bruce: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Bruce, and how old are they?
242,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 62% of the 388,275 Americans ever recorded as Bruce. The median Bruce alive today is 67 years old; half are between 58 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 267,817 people named Bruce (346 women and girls, 267,471 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 271,317 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 14,500 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 150,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 42,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 17,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,980 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 8,170 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Bruce born?
The states with the most babies named Bruce are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 37,537 | #547 | 1.1× |
| California | 30,788 | #444 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 24,480 | #508 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 21,448 | #577 | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 21,117 | #544 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 20,992 | #448 | 1.2× |
| Minnesota | 14,456 | #553 | 1.8× |
| Massachusetts | 14,171 | #415 | 1.2× |
| New Jersey | 14,118 | #430 | 1.2× |
| Texas | 13,530 | #555 | 0.6× |
Where Bruce is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Bruce is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 1.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Bruce with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Bruce
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Bruce and names like it
- Compare Bruce and GarryBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sBruce peaked in 1956.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Bruce since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Bruce: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1956The year the most babies were named Bruce.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Bruce alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.