Fun Facts About the Name Brooklyn
- More than 127 thousand babies named Brooklyn: U.S. records list 127,002 babies given the name Brooklyn from 1880 through 2025. Even 1,855 boys received the name Brooklyn - about 1 boy for every 67 girls.
What Does the Name Brooklyn Mean?
Brooklyn is a place name that became a given name. It comes from the Dutch name Breukelen, a village in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Dutch form is generally explained as a compound of broek, meaning "marsh" or "bog," and an older element lo meaning "wood" or "clearing." Taken literally, the sense is something like "marshland" or "clearing in the marsh."
Because the name reached English as a place name, its established meaning is usually given simply as "marshland." The resemblance to the English word brook (a stream) is coincidental: the Dutch first element broek refers to wet, marshy ground, not to a small river, so "land by the brook" is a folk explanation rather than the historical source.
Brooklyn Name History & Origins
The name entered English through the New York City borough. Dutch colonists, who settled the western end of Long Island in the 17th century, named their settlement Breuckelen after the town of Breukelen in the Netherlands. When the colony passed to English control in 1664, the spelling shifted, and the place name was eventually anglicized to Brooklyn. The borough's name was well known long before it was used for people.
As a first name, Brooklyn is a modern borrowing from that place name, part of a broader American habit of turning surnames and place names into given names. It appeared for girls in the later 20th century and was soon used for boys as well, often spelled the same way. The name's wider use in the 1990s and 2000s reflects the general fashion for place-derived names in the United States rather than a single documented cause.
How Popular is the Name Brooklyn?
Brooklyn recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2011. Brooklyn entered the top 100 U.S. girl names in 2005.
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 | #118 | 2,300 | 0.1431% |
| 2024 | #108 | 2,487 | 0.1542% |
| 2023 | #84 | 2,859 | 0.1784% |
| 2022 | #72 | 3,211 | 0.1959% |
| 2021 | #63 | 3,540 | 0.2159% |
| 2020 | #54 | 4,027 | 0.2493% |
| 2019 | #52 | 4,312 | 0.2570% |
| 2018 | #47 | 4,652 | 0.2736% |
| 2017 | #39 | 5,211 | 0.3019% |
| 2016 | #34 | 5,970 | 0.3370% |
| 2015 | #31 | 6,331 | 0.3547% |
| 2014 | #26 | 6,841 | 0.3830% |
| 2013 | #28 | 6,906 | 0.3936% |
| 2012 | #29 | 6,795 | 0.3859% |
| 2011 | #21 | 7,178 | 0.4081% |
| 2010 | #34 | 6,129 | 0.3448% |
| 2009 | #37 | 5,676 | 0.3090% |
| 2008 | #48 | 5,315 | 0.2811% |
| 2007 | #57 | 4,887 | 0.2542% |
| 2006 | #66 | 4,719 | 0.2482% |
| 2005 | #78 | 4,132 | 0.2236% |
| 2004 | #101 | 3,267 | 0.1779% |
| 2003 | #118 | 2,924 | 0.1600% |
| 2002 | #152 | 2,210 | 0.1230% |
| 2001 | #172 | 1,905 | 0.1058% |
| 2000 | #177 | 1,831 | 0.1008% |
| 1999 | #182 | 1,689 | 0.0952% |
| 1998 | #200 | 1,558 | 0.0882% |
| 1997 | #227 | 1,328 | 0.0763% |
| 1996 | #286 | 1,009 | 0.0576% |
| 1995 | #341 | 774 | 0.0440% |
| 1994 | #385 | 658 | 0.0368% |
| 1993 | #467 | 541 | 0.0299% |
| 1992 | #553 | 426 | 0.0231% |
| 1991 | #716 | 294 | 0.0157% |
| 1990 | #911 | 210 | 0.0111% |
| 1989 | #1,043 | 164 | 0.0089% |
| 1988 | #1,113 | 139 | 0.0078% |
| 1987 | #1,365 | 100 | 0.0058% |
| 1986 | #1,422 | 90 | 0.0052% |
| 1985 | #1,605 | 74 | 0.0043% |
| 1984 | #1,605 | 69 | 0.0041% |
| 1983 | #1,476 | 78 | 0.0047% |
| 1982 | #1,622 | 71 | 0.0042% |
| 1981 | #1,831 | 60 | 0.0036% |
| 1980 | #1,983 | 53 | 0.0032% |
| 1979 | #2,189 | 45 | 0.0028% |
| 1978 | #2,635 | 32 | 0.0021% |
| 1977 | #3,009 | 26 | 0.0017% |
| 1976 | #5,248 | 11 | 0.0008% |
| 1975 | #4,890 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1974 | #6,320 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1973 | #6,747 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1972 | #7,371 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,192 | 37 | 0.0022% |
| 2024 | #2,282 | 62 | 0.0036% |
| 2023 | #2,246 | 63 | 0.0037% |
| 2022 | #2,564 | 53 | 0.0030% |
| 2021 | #2,529 | 52 | 0.0030% |
| 2020 | #2,266 | 60 | 0.0035% |
| 2019 | #1,680 | 95 | 0.0053% |
| 2018 | #2,172 | 64 | 0.0035% |
| 2017 | #2,004 | 71 | 0.0038% |
| 2016 | #2,069 | 68 | 0.0036% |
| 2015 | #2,115 | 66 | 0.0034% |
| 2014 | #2,066 | 68 | 0.0035% |
| 2013 | #2,568 | 47 | 0.0025% |
| 2012 | #2,136 | 63 | 0.0033% |
| 2011 | #1,811 | 79 | 0.0042% |
| 2010 | #1,742 | 87 | 0.0045% |
| 2009 | #1,409 | 120 | 0.0061% |
| 2008 | #1,574 | 101 | 0.0050% |
| 2007 | #1,743 | 85 | 0.0041% |
| 2006 | #1,827 | 75 | 0.0036% |
| 2005 | #1,776 | 74 | 0.0037% |
| 2004 | #1,689 | 76 | 0.0038% |
| 2003 | #2,396 | 44 | 0.0022% |
| 2002 | #4,344 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2001 | #4,145 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2000 | #2,748 | 33 | 0.0017% |
| 1999 | #3,041 | 27 | 0.0014% |
| 1998 | #4,441 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1997 | #3,755 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1996 | #3,845 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1995 | #3,882 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1994 | #3,766 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1993 | #8,876 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1992 | #5,709 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1991 | #5,137 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1990 | #8,270 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1989 | #6,299 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1987 | #6,193 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #6,023 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #6,653 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #5,089 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1979 | #6,168 | 5 | 0.0003% |
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 Brooklyn 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 are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Brooklyn's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Brooklyn's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.