Brooklyn
Brooklyn was the 118th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 2,300 babies. Its best year was 2011, when it ranked 21st with 7,178 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 87 places. More babies were named Brooklyn in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning Brooklyn, New York (from Dutch Breukelen) · Dutch, American English
Say it BROOK-lin /ˈbrʊklɪn/
- Rank in 2025
- #118 girls, down 64 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 2,300girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20117,178 babies
- Total since 1880
- 127,055babies recorded
What does the name Brooklyn mean?
Brooklyn is the name of the New York City borough, which the Dutch settlers named after the town of Breukelen near Utrecht. Wiktionary derives the Dutch name from broek, 'marsh, wetland', so the original sense is a marshy place. As a girl's name Brooklyn is a modern American choice from the place name; it also fits the pattern of blended names like Brook plus Lynn. The variant Brooklynn is also used.
Breukelen (Dutch, “town near Utrecht”)broek (Dutch, “marsh, wetland”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Pronunciation: The oo is short, as in 'book'.
Related names: Brooklynn, Brooke, Brook, Brooklin.
See also: Germanic names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Brooklyn', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
- Wikipedia, 'Brooklyn', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
Nicknames for Brooklyn
The usual nicknames for Brooklyn are Brooke and Brook. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Brooklyn in the last five years, 37 were named Brooke, against 193 twenty years earlier.
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Brooklyns go by each one.
Brooklyn popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 1,858 since 1979, 37 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #118 | 2,300 |
| 2020 | #54 | 4,032 |
| 2010 | #34 | 6,130 |
| 2000 | #177 | 1,831 |
| 1990 | #911 | 210 |
| 1980 | #1,983 | 53 |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Brooklyn, counting every spelling?
Brooklyn is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #109 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #118 for Brooklyn on its own. Together these spellings went to 2,943 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 2,300 | #118 | 14,426 |
| Brooklynn | 608 | #488 | 4,014 |
| Brooklynne | 14 | #7,561 | 112 |
| Brooklin | 11 | #8,967 | 65 |
| Brooklyne | 10 | #9,570 | 31 |
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 Brooklyn?
2,300 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Brooklyn (0.64 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Brooklyn 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 4 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Brooklyn.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Brooklyn?
About 124,100 people born in the US named Brooklyn are alive today, with a median age of 14; half are between 9 and 19. That makes Brooklyn 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.
Brooklyn by state
How common Brooklyn was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (3.0×), Wyoming (3.0×), Delaware (2.4×), Hawaii (2.2×), Montana (2.1×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New York, New Jersey, Vermont.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Brooklyn: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Brooklyn, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Brooklyn · Sibling names for Brooklyn
Questions about the name Brooklyn
What does Brooklyn mean?
Brooklyn means “Brooklyn, New York (from Dutch Breukelen)” (Dutch, American English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Brooklyn?
Brooklyn was the 118th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 2,300 babies. Its best year was 2011, when it ranked 21st with 7,178 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 87 places. More babies were named Brooklyn in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Brooklyn a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Brooklyn in the US.
Where is Brooklyn most popular?
In 2021–2025, Brooklyn was most common in Mississippi (5.41 per 1,000 girls), followed by Wyoming and Delaware.