# Bruce (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/bruce/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /bɹuːs/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | Brucie, Brucey |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 388,275 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 386,880 / 1,395 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,306, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From a Norman place name, Brix, of disputed meaning.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 17 | 3,828 |
| 1977 | 13 | 4,967 |
| 1978 | 13 | 4,962 |
| 1979 | 12 | 5,459 |
| 1980 | 17 | 4,347 |
| 1981 | 7 | 8,225 |
| 1982 | 9 | 6,952 |
| 1983 | 11 | 5,865 |
| 1984 | 10 | 6,359 |
| 1985 | 16 | 4,653 |
| 1986 | 8 | 7,846 |
| 1987 | 8 | 8,091 |
| 1988 | 6 | 10,542 |
| 1991 | 6 | 11,704 |
| 1995 | 5 | 13,736 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 574 | 469 |
| 2012 | 668 | 422 |
| 2013 | 710 | 417 |
| 2014 | 773 | 401 |
| 2015 | 766 | 404 |
| 2016 | 702 | 441 |
| 2017 | 722 | 429 |
| 2018 | 614 | 473 |
| 2019 | 624 | 471 |
| 2020 | 587 | 498 |
| 2021 | 549 | 535 |
| 2022 | 526 | 563 |
| 2023 | 547 | 542 |
| 2024 | 555 | 536 |
| 2025 | 558 | 536 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 44 | 718 |
| 2012 | 43 | 754 |
| 2013 | 57 | 603 |
| 2014 | 55 | 624 |
| 2015 | 63 | 586 |
| 2016 | 81 | 501 |
| 2017 | 62 | 597 |
| 2018 | 71 | 541 |
| 2019 | 62 | 597 |
| 2020 | 52 | 656 |
| 2021 | 49 | 704 |
| 2022 | 47 | 714 |
| 2023 | 31 | 965 |
| 2024 | 35 | 898 |
| 2025 | 37 | 856 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Брус
- Chinese: 布魯斯 /布鲁斯, 布魯斯 /布鲁斯
- Russian: Брюс, Брус
- Greek: Βρούτιος, Μπρους

## People named Bruce

- Bruce Springsteen, American rock singer (born 1949)
- Bruce Dickinson, English heavy metal singer (born 1958)
- Bruce Beutler, American immunologist and geneticist
- Robert Bruce Merrifield, American biochemist
- Bruce Campbell, American actor
- Bruce Dern, American actor
- Bruce McCandless II, American astronaut (1937–2017)
- Bruce Davison, American actor
- Bruce Sterling, American author, speaker and futurist (born 1954)
- Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor and musician
- Bruce Chatwin, English novelist (1940–1989)
- J. Bruce Ismay, Chairman of White Star shipping line (1862–1937)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.