Boy · Old French, through English
Brett
Say it: BRET
Meaning
From a surname derived from Old French bret 'a Breton', someone from Brittany.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Taken up as a first name in the mid-20th century, helped by the TV western Maverick's Bret Maverick.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1980s
In the United States
- 161,514 babies given this name since 1926
- At its height in 1986, about 1 in 389 boys
- 258 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Bret
Famous bearers
- Bret Harte, American writer
- Brett Favre, American football quarterback
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.