Brooke
Brooke was the 313th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 972 babies. Its best year was 2003, when it ranked 43rd; the most babies were born in 1996 (6,724). Over the last ten years it has moved down 163 places. More babies were named Brooke in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning brook, stream · Old English
Say it BROOK /brʊk/
- Rank in 2025
- #313 girls, down 77 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 972girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19966,724 babies
- Total since 1880
- 200,521babies recorded
What does the name Brooke mean?
Brooke is an English surname for someone who lived by a brook, from Old English brōc, "stream"; Bardsley calls it one of the great local surnames of Yorkshire. As a girl's name it is a transfer from the surname, and Wiktionary notes it became fairly popular from the 1970s, helped in the 1980s by the actress Brooke Shields. Brook and Brooks are surnames from the same word. Brooklyn, by contrast, is a separate place name, from Dutch Breukelen.
brōc (Old English, “brook, stream”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Pronunciation: The oo is short, as in 'book'.
Related names: Brook, Brooklyn, Brooks.
See also: English names, names that mean water.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Brooke', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (1901), s.v. 'Brook', Henry Frowde (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
Brooke popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 2,030 since 1914.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #313 | 972 |
| 2020 | #236 | 1,262 |
| 2010 | #73 | 3,706 |
| 2000 | #51 | 5,642 |
| 1990 | #70 | 4,990 |
| 1980 | #57 | 4,951 |
| 1970 | #345 | 758 |
| 1960 | #1,065 | 102 |
| 1950 | #1,251 | 54 |
| 1940 | #1,597 | 24 |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Brooke, counting every spelling?
Brooke is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #329 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #313 for Brooke on its own. Together these spellings went to 1,004 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooke | 972 | #313 | 5,371 |
| Brook | 32 | #4,373 | 157 |
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 Brooke?
972 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Brooke (0.27 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Brooke 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 9 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Brooke.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Brooke?
About 194,000 people born in the US named Brooke are alive today, with a median age of 29; half are between 20 and 37. That makes Brooke 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.
Brooke by state
How common Brooke was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New Hampshire (4.8×), Massachusetts (3.6×), Connecticut (3.5×), Rhode Island (3.1×), District of Columbia (2.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Brooke: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Brooke, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Brooke · Sibling names for Brooke
Brooke is also a nickname for Brooklyn.
Questions about the name Brooke
What does Brooke mean?
Brooke means “brook, stream” (Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Brooke?
Brooke was the 313th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 972 babies. Its best year was 2003, when it ranked 43rd; the most babies were born in 1996 (6,724). Over the last ten years it has moved down 163 places. More babies were named Brooke in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Brooke a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Brooke in the US.
Where is Brooke most popular?
In 2021–2025, Brooke was most common in New Hampshire (3.19 per 1,000 girls), followed by Massachusetts and Connecticut.