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2025 data, released 8 May 2026

2025 data, released 8 May 2026

Bret

Bret was the 4883rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 20 babies. Its best year was 1959, when it ranked 170th with 1,839 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,505 places. More babies were named Bret in the 1960s than in any other decade.

Meaning (as Brett) a Breton · English, Old French

Rank in 2025
#4,883 boys, up 392 places since 2020
Babies in 2025
20boys
Girls and boys
Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
Peak year
19591,839 babies
Total since 1880
30,051babies recorded

What does the name Bret mean?

Bret is a spelling of Brett, pronounced the same way, so it shares Brett's meaning and origin.

Brett is an English surname meaning 'a Breton', a person from Brittany, as Wiktionary notes; many Bretons came to England with the Normans. It is related to Britain and Briton. As a first name it was used for both sexes and became popular for boys in the US in the 1970s and 1980s; Lady Brett Ashley in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926) is a female bearer.

Bret (Old French, “a Breton”)

How sure is this? Well established.

Related names: Bret, Breton.

See also: English names.

Sources for this meaning

Bret popularity since 1880

05001k1.5k2k 1900192019401960198020002020
Boys Babies per year, US, from Social Security records. Years with fewer than 5 babies show as zero.

A few girls are given the name too: 232 since 1968.

YearRank (boys)Babies (boys)
2025#4,88320
2020#5,27517
2010#1,71689
2000#657274
1990#418546
1980#400410
1970#260871
1960#2231,242
1950#1,23334
1940#2,34310
1930——
1920——
1910——
1900——
1890——
1880——

How popular is Bret, counting every spelling?

Bret is a spelling of Brett, a name family that ranked #1,218 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #4,883 for Bret on its own. Together these spellings went to 153 boys in 2025.

SpellingBabies 2025Official rankBabies 2021–2025
Brett133#1,382944
Bret20#4,883113

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 Bret?

20 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Bret (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Bret 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 423 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Bret.

Chance of another Bret in a class of 20under 1 in 50US, born 2025

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Bret?

About 25,900 people born in the US named Bret are alive today, with a median age of 51; half are between 37 and 61. That makes Bret mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980–8990+
Estimated people alive in the US with the name, by age, mid-2026. The darker bar holds the median age.

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.

Bret by state

How common Bret was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. In 50 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.

Alaska: fewer than 5 a yearAK–Maine: fewer than 5 a yearME–Wisconsin: fewer than 5 a yearWI–Vermont: fewer than 5 a yearVT–New Hampshire: fewer than 5 a yearNH–Washington: fewer than 5 a yearWA–Idaho: fewer than 5 a yearID–Montana: fewer than 5 a yearMT–North Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearND–Minnesota: fewer than 5 a yearMN–Illinois: fewer than 5 a yearIL–Michigan: fewer than 5 a yearMI–New York: fewer than 5 a yearNY–Massachusetts: fewer than 5 a yearMA–Oregon: fewer than 5 a yearOR–Nevada: fewer than 5 a yearNV–Wyoming: fewer than 5 a yearWY–South Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearSD–Iowa: fewer than 5 a yearIA–Indiana: fewer than 5 a yearIN–Ohio: fewer than 5 a yearOH–Pennsylvania: fewer than 5 a yearPA–New Jersey: fewer than 5 a yearNJ–Connecticut: fewer than 5 a yearCT–Rhode Island: fewer than 5 a yearRI–California: 0.01 per 1,000 babiesCA0.01Utah: fewer than 5 a yearUT–Colorado: fewer than 5 a yearCO–Nebraska: fewer than 5 a yearNE–Missouri: fewer than 5 a yearMO–Kentucky: fewer than 5 a yearKY–West Virginia: fewer than 5 a yearWV–Virginia: fewer than 5 a yearVA–Maryland: fewer than 5 a yearMD–Delaware: fewer than 5 a yearDE–Arizona: fewer than 5 a yearAZ–New Mexico: fewer than 5 a yearNM–Kansas: fewer than 5 a yearKS–Arkansas: fewer than 5 a yearAR–Tennessee: fewer than 5 a yearTN–North Carolina: fewer than 5 a yearNC–South Carolina: fewer than 5 a yearSC–District of Columbia: fewer than 5 a yearDC–Oklahoma: fewer than 5 a yearOK–Louisiana: fewer than 5 a yearLA–Mississippi: fewer than 5 a yearMS–Alabama: fewer than 5 a yearAL–Georgia: fewer than 5 a yearGA–Hawaii: fewer than 5 a yearHI–Texas: fewer than 5 a yearTX–Florida: fewer than 5 a yearFL–
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex, Bret, boys, 2021–2025. Darker means more common.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Bret: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Bret, they share its era and feel.

Questions about the name Bret

What does Bret mean?

Bret is a spelling of Brett, which means “a Breton” (English, Old French origin). Certainty: well established.

How popular is the name Bret?

Bret was the 4883rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 20 babies. Its best year was 1959, when it ranked 170th with 1,839 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,505 places. More babies were named Bret in the 1960s than in any other decade.

Is Bret a boy or girl name?

In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Bret in the US.

Where is Bret most popular?

In 2021–2025, Bret was most common in California (0.01 per 1,000 boys).