Breanna
Breanna was the 2548th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 69 babies. Its best year was 1996, when it ranked 74th with 4,701 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,883 places. More babies were named Breanna in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning variant of Brianna, feminine of Brian · Irish, American English
Say it bree-AN-uh /briˈænə/
- Rank in 2025
- #2,548 girls, down 1,365 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 69girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19964,701 babies
- Total since 1880
- 82,440babies recorded
What does the name Breanna mean?
Breanna is an American spelling of Brianna (Briana), a feminine form of the Irish name Brian made in English. The origin of Brian itself is uncertain: DMNES notes a possible link to a Brythonic word for "high, noble", but this is not settled. The name is best known from Brian Boru, the 10th- and 11th-century high king of Ireland. Breanna and similar spellings were especially popular in the US in the 1990s.
Brian (Irish, “personal name of uncertain origin”)
How sure is this? Well established. Breanna is clearly a form of Brianna/Brian; the meaning of Brian is uncertain (possibly "high, noble").
Pronunciation: IPA taken from Wiktionary's entry for Brianna, which is pronounced the same.
Related names: Brianna, Briana, Breana, Brianne, Brian.
See also: Irish names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Breanna', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Brianna', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Brian', DMNES (Durham University)
Nicknames for Breanna
The usual nicknames for Breanna are Bree and Bri. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Breanna in the last five years, 76 were named Bree, against 6 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bree · also for Aubrey, Brianna | Traditional | #2,826 | 432 |
| Bri · also for Brielle, Brianna, Briella | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Breannas go by each one.
Breanna popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 65 since 1988.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,548 | 69 |
| 2020 | #1,183 | 196 |
| 2010 | #250 | 1,286 |
| 2000 | #80 | 3,826 |
| 1990 | #113 | 2,951 |
| 1980 | #628 | 290 |
| 1970 | #7,145 | 6 |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Breanna, counting every spelling?
Breanna is the most common spelling of a name family that had 82 girls in 2025 across its spellings. Together these spellings went to 82 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breanna | 69 | #2,548 | 568 |
| Breana | 13 | #7,965 | 65 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Breanna?
69 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Breanna (0.02 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Breanna born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 122 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Breanna.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Breanna?
About 81,000 people born in the US named Breanna are alive today, with a median age of 28; half are between 22 and 33. That makes Breanna mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Breanna by state
How common Breanna was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. In 37 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Breanna: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Breanna, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Breanna · Sibling names for Breanna
Questions about the name Breanna
What does Breanna mean?
Breanna means “variant of Brianna, feminine of Brian” (Irish, American English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Breanna?
Breanna was the 2548th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 69 babies. Its best year was 1996, when it ranked 74th with 4,701 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,883 places. More babies were named Breanna in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Breanna a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Breanna in the US.
Where is Breanna most popular?
In 2021–2025, Breanna was most common in California (0.10 per 1,000 girls), followed by Florida and Ohio.