Brystol
Brystol was the 3584th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 42 babies. Its best year was 2012, when it ranked 1792nd with 114 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,558 places. More babies were named Brystol in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning (as Bristol) place at the bridge (English city) · English, Old English
- Rank in 2025
- #3,584 girls, down 1,385 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 42girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2012114 babies
- Total since 1880
- 1,354babies recorded
What does the name Brystol mean?
Brystol is a spelling of Bristol, pronounced the same way, so it shares Bristol's meaning and origin.
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)
Brystol popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 14 since 2009.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,584 | 42 |
| 2020 | #2,199 | 82 |
| 2010 | #2,734 | 65 |
| 2000 | — | — |
| 1990 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Brystol, counting every spelling?
Brystol is a spelling of Bristol, a name family that ranked #671 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #3,584 for Brystol 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 Brystol?
42 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Brystol (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Brystol 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 200 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Brystol.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Brystol?
About 1,300 people born in the US named Brystol are alive today, with a median age of 10; half are between 6 and 14. That makes Brystol 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.
Brystol by state
How common Brystol was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. In 43 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 Brystol: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Brystol, they share its era and feel.
Questions about the name Brystol
What does Brystol mean?
Brystol is a spelling of Bristol, which means “place at the bridge (English city)” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Brystol?
Brystol was the 3584th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 42 babies. Its best year was 2012, when it ranked 1792nd with 114 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,558 places. More babies were named Brystol in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Brystol a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Brystol in the US.
Where is Brystol most popular?
In 2021–2025, Brystol was most common in Kentucky (0.07 per 1,000 girls), followed by South Carolina and Indiana.