How common is the surname Bright?

33,281 people in the United States had the surname Bright in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,277 Americans. It ranked 1,050th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Bright?

Torah Bright, Australian snowboarder (born 1986), followed by Richard Bright.

Where is the surname Bright most common?

Wikidata records people named Bright in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 1 other country.

Is the surname Bright getting more or less common?

More common. 32,042 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 33,281 in 2010, up 3.9%.

The surname Bright

A surname, carried by 33,281 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex B623

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Bright is more common than 99.4% of them.

Origin

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

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 33,281 people named Bright in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,277 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 32,042.

#1,050

rank among US surnames

33,281

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.9%

change since 2000 (was #992)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,041	Bird	33,457	9,228
#1,042	Bonner	33,446	9,231
#1,043	Ferrell	33,418	9,239
#1,044	Cotton	33,374	9,251
#1,045	Dotson	33,347	9,259
#1,046	McGowan	33,340	9,261
#1,047	Barlow	33,335	9,262

Who is named Bright

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

70% of people named Bright identified as white (not Hispanic), 23% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as two or more races.

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Brights

17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Torah Bright
Australian snowboarder (born 1986)
Richard Bright
American actor (1937–2006)
Ella Bright
British-American actress, born 2006
Bill Bright
American evangelist (1921–2003)
Susie Bright
American writer and feminist, born 1958
Kevin S. Bright
American television executive producer and director, born 1954
Walter Bright
American software developer known for designing compilers, born 1959
William Bright
American linguist (1928–2006)
Bobby Bright
American politician (born 1952)
Jesse D. Bright
American politician (1812-1875)
John Bright
British costume designer, born 1940
Charles Tilston Bright
British engineer and politician (1832-1888)

Notable Brights come mostly from the United States (10), the United Kingdom (4) and Australia (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Bright

Bright has the Soundex code B623, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B623.

Questions

Where does the surname Bright come from?: As an English surname, from the root of bright. As an Anglicized German surname, from Brecht and Breit.
How common is the surname Bright?: 33,281 people in the United States had the surname Bright in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,277 Americans. It ranked 1,050th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Bright?: In the 2010 Census, 70% of people named Bright identified as white (not Hispanic), and 23% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Bright?: Torah Bright, Australian snowboarder (born 1986), followed by Richard Bright.
Where is the surname Bright most common?: Wikidata records people named Bright in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 1 other country.
Is the surname Bright getting more or less common?: More common. 32,042 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 33,281 in 2010, up 3.9%.