Bruce

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bruce is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name281K records spelled Bruce4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Brücë

• a separate given name68K records spelled Bruce2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

• Russian surname23K records spelled Bruce51 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ukraine, United States, Poland, Russia

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Ukrainian

  Also written Брус, Brus, Брюс, Брусь, Brusa

90 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bruce is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Irish, Norman name meaning someone from Brieuse; associated with Robert the Bruce.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Norman surname from Brix/Brus in Normandy; brought to Britain after 1066, with Robert de Brus in Scotland by the early 12th century.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, From the Norman place-name Bruce; surname continued through branches of the Annandale Bruces and possibly separate Norman sources.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, probably from Brix or Le Brus, Normandy; first attested Robert de Bruis 1086 DB (Y)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In French, From a Scottish surname, originally from the place name Brix in Normandy.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Albert Bruce Sabinb. 1906USJewish-Polish-American physician and epidemiologist who developed oral polio vaccines (1906-1993)
• Bruce McLarenb. 1937NZNew Zealand racecar driver, designer and team owner (1937-1970)
• Bruce Leeb. 1940USHong Kong–American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)
• Dick Cheneyb. 1941USnot in their usual nameVice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 (1941–2025)
• Bruce Springsteenb. 1949USAmerican rock singer (born 1949)
• Caitlyn Jennerb. 1949USnot in their usual nameAmerican media personality and retired decathlete
• Bruce Sterlingb. 1954USAmerican author, speaker and futurist (born 1954)
• Bruce Raunerb. 1957USGovernor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019
• Bruce Dickinsonb. 1958GBEnglish heavy metal singer (born 1958)
• Evilb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican rapper, record producer and actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,041 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bruce?

We estimate roughly 275 thousand people bear Bruce (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Bruce have the most bearers?

We estimate about 267 thousand people bear Bruce in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled bruce.

How common is Bruce compared with other names?

In the United States, Bruce is the 136th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Bruce a male or female name?

Bruce is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Bruce mean?

Recorded meaning: perhaps ‘person from Brix’, or alternatively ‘person from Briouze or Le Brus’, all places in northern France.