Fun Facts About the Name Breton
- 456 babies named Breton: U.S. records list 456 babies given the name Breton from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Breton Mean?
Breton is an ethnic name meaning "a Breton," that is, a person from Brittany, the peninsula in northwestern France. It entered English from Old French Breton, which descends from Latin Britto, plural Brittones, the Roman term for a Briton. That same Latin source lies behind the English words Briton and Britain, so Breton is a cousin of those words rather than a compound with any meaning like "strong" or "gift." Its sense is simply "one from Brittany" or "a member of the Breton people."
Two things named Breton are worth separating. One is the people and the region: the French name of the region is Bretagne, and the Breton-language name is Breizh. The other is the language, Breton (in Breton, brezhoneg), which is why the word also functions as a label for a speaker of that language.
Breton Name History & Origins
The word began as a Latin label. Roman writers called the Celtic-speaking inhabitants of Britain Brittones, and when groups of these Britons crossed the English Channel in late antiquity, settling in the Armorican peninsula of what is now France during the fifth and sixth centuries, the region took its name from them. Old French rendered the ethnonym as Breton, and the region as Bretagne. From this came the English word Breton, applied both to the people of Brittany and to their Brittonic Celtic language, which is related to Welsh and Cornish.
As a personal name, Breton is best established as an English surname. Surnames drawn from ethnic labels for Bretons appear in medieval England, where contact with Brittany was continuous through trade, the church, and the Norman nobility, several of whose families held lands on both sides of the Channel. A man identified as le Breton or similar would pass the label to his descendants.
Use of Breton as a masculine given name is occasional and much more recent, and it reads as a transferred use of the surname or of the place name rather than a name with its own independent line of development. It is uncommon enough that no single historical event or figure can be credited with establishing it.
How Popular is the Name Breton?
Breton has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1988. Its best rank was #2,551 in 1963.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #12,320 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2022 | #9,092 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2021 | #9,863 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #9,715 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2019 | #12,419 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #10,972 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #10,974 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #10,943 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #8,129 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2013 | #8,913 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #9,848 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #9,911 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #6,515 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2005 | #7,706 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #8,779 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #8,570 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #9,410 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #9,227 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #6,601 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1998 | #9,811 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #8,257 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #7,230 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #4,828 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1994 | #5,496 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1993 | #4,734 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1992 | #5,279 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1991 | #6,594 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #4,441 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1989 | #5,212 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1988 | #2,868 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1987 | #3,549 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1986 | #3,018 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1985 | #3,426 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1984 | #3,288 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1983 | #4,169 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1982 | #3,994 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1981 | #4,189 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1980 | #4,994 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1979 | #5,437 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #5,907 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #5,945 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1975 | #3,991 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1974 | #4,235 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1973 | #3,745 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1972 | #4,498 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #4,295 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1969 | #3,996 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1968 | #3,724 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1967 | #3,017 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1966 | #2,643 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1963 | #2,551 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1962 | #3,069 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1961 | #3,388 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1960 | #4,097 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1959 | #3,061 | 8 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Breton Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
You are always looking for an opportunity to achieve financial and emotional security. You are basically peacemaker. You understand the law of harmony and desire to balance your life with those around you. You may feel incomplete without someone to share your love, ideals, wealth or work. You can be very sensitive and could appear a bit shy and perceptive. You have developed intuition, patience and the ability to nurture others. You can achieve the state of happiness if you are willing to accept your needs in a complimentary relationship and go to create them.
✦ Breton's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Breton's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.