Given name & surname
Bracken
“resembling a large, coarse fern”·“resembling the large fern”
Bracken is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “resembling a large, coarse fern” (English) and “resembling the large fern” (English). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “resembling a large, coarse fern” (English) and “resembling the large fern” (English). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1971. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Bracken through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 618
- 618 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1998
- 31 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #9,039 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −69%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,039 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 31 in 1998. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 631 as a first name in 2020; 7,717 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Bracken’s family of names
Bracken has a related form in Braccan. Bracken has a related form in Brackan. Bracken has a related form in Brackin.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Bracken
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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