# Bright (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/bright/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 33,281 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,050 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 9,277 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.9% (32,042 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

As an English surname, from the root of bright. As an Anglicized German surname, from Brecht and Breit.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Bright in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 70% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Bright in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Bright

- Torah Bright, Australian snowboarder (born 1986)
- Richard Bright, American actor (1937–2006)
- Ella Bright, British-American actress
- Bill Bright, American evangelist (1921–2003)
- Susie Bright, American writer and feminist
- Kevin S. Bright, American television executive producer and director
- Walter Bright, American software developer known for designing compilers
- William Bright, American linguist (1928–2006)
- Bobby Bright, American politician (born 1952)
- Jesse D. Bright, American politician (1812-1875)
- John Bright, British costume designer
- Charles Tilston Bright, British engineer and politician (1832-1888)

and 5 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Britt, Brito, Birt, Britto, Breit, Brite, Broughton, Bristol, Bristow, Brister, Brightwell, Brecht.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.