Bristol
Bristol was the 728th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 382 babies. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked 390th with 788 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 280 places. More babies were named Bristol in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning place at the bridge (English city) · English, Old English
Say it BRIS-tul /ˈbrɪstəl/
- Rank in 2025
- #728 girls, down 237 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 382girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2019788 babies
- Total since 1880
- 11,616babies recorded
What does the name Bristol mean?
Bristol is the name of the port city in southwest England, used as a first name. Wiktionary traces it to Old English Brycgstow, "the place by the bridge," from brycg, bridge, and stow, place. Middle English Bristowe later gained a final -l, which Wiktionary puts down to the way local speakers pronounced and over-corrected l sounds. The American Heritage Dictionary confirms the two Old English words, brycg and stōw. In the US it has been used for boys since the early 20th century and for girls since the 1970s.
brycg (Old English, “bridge”)stōw (Old English, “place”)
How sure is this? Well established.
See also: English names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Bristol' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'bridge' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'stow' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Bristol popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 573 since 1915, 8 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #728 | 382 |
| 2020 | #491 | 621 |
| 2010 | #565 | 517 |
| 2000 | #6,861 | 15 |
| 1990 | #6,514 | 13 |
| 1980 | #6,852 | 9 |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Bristol, counting every spelling?
Bristol is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #671 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #728 for Bristol on its own. Together these spellings went to 424 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 382 | #728 | 2,719 |
| Brystol | 42 | #3,584 | 273 |
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 Bristol?
382 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Bristol (0.11 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Bristol 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 22 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Bristol.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Bristol?
About 11,000 people born in the US named Bristol are alive today, with a median age of 10; half are between 6 and 14. That makes Bristol a young name: most people with it are children.
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.
Bristol by state
How common Bristol was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in West Virginia (7.9×), North Dakota (4.8×), Iowa (4.1×), Kansas (4.1×), Kentucky (3.1×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Bristol: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Bristol, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Bristol · Sibling names for Bristol
Questions about the name Bristol
What does Bristol mean?
Bristol means “place at the bridge (English city)” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Bristol?
Bristol was the 728th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 382 babies. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked 390th with 788 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 280 places. More babies were named Bristol in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Bristol a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Bristol in the US.
Where is Bristol most popular?
In 2021–2025, Bristol was most common in West Virginia (2.63 per 1,000 girls), followed by North Dakota and Iowa.