Bret is a boy name with a classic feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Bret means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Bret across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Bret has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Bret is a boy name of Celtic origin meaning “a Breton, from Brittany”. A variant of Brett, originally a surname for someone from Brittany.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 30,051 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 139 births |
| Scotland since 1974 | 6 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Bret per year, United States (1926 to 2025). United States peaked in 1959 (1,839/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 1998 (17/yr) · Scotland peaked in 1987 (3/yr).
Bret has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 1959, when it ranked #367 nationally (given to 1,839 babies that year).
Brett · Brad · Barrett · Bert · Bart · Britt · Burt · Britta
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