ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1973 First Year 2026 Last Year 2019 Peak Year #390 Peak Rank 12K Total Count 45 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Bristol What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Bristol is a city and ceremonial county in South West England. It is located on the River Avon, and bordered by Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south with a short coastline on the Bristol Channel to the west. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol) 🏛️Origin & history Main articles: History of Bristol and Timeline of Bristol Archaeological finds, including flint tools believed to be between 300,000 and 126,000 years old made with the Levallois technique , indicate the presence of Neanderthals in the Shirehampton and St Annes areas of Bristol during the Middle Palaeolithic . Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down , on the side of the Avon Gorge , and on Kings Weston Hill near Henbury . A Roman port, Portus Abonae (Avonport) – abbreviated to Abona in the Antonine Itinerary , existed at what is now Sea Mills (connected to Bath an [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Bristol](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Clifton_Suspension_Bridge_and_the_Observatory_in_Bristol%2C_England.jpg/330px-Clifton_Suspension_Bridge_and_the_Observatory_in_Bristol%2C_England.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol) 📖 ## The Story of Bristol Bristol first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1973, with 6 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 2019, when 788 Bristols were born — ranking #390 that year. As of 2026, Bristol ranks #643 for baby girls with 458 births, falling sharply (-23%). In total, more than 12K Bristols have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1970s through the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🎶 ## Names that sound like Bristol Phonetically similar names — useful when Bristol is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * Brittle * Barista * Bristle * Bristols * Prestel * Brussel * Bestill * Brustle * Brutal * Brasil * Brattle * Bristow Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Bristol What does the name Bristol mean? Bristol is a city and ceremonial county in South West England. It is located on the River Avon, and bordered by Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south with a short coastline on the Bristol Channel to the west. How popular is Bristol in 2026? In 2026, Bristol ranks #643 among girls' names in the U.S., with 458 babies given the name that year. When was Bristol most popular? Bristol reached its peak popularity in 2019, ranking #390 that year with 788 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Bristol most popular? Bristol has historically been most popular in West Virginia, Alaska, North Dakota. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Bristol. Is Bristol a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Bristol is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Bristol? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Bristol include Elmira, Stephani, Jayleen. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧ElmiraPeak #390](/elmira)[👧StephaniPeak #390](/stephani)[👧JayleenPeak #390](/jayleen)[👧AleahPeak #390](/aleah)[👧MatiePeak #391](/matie)[👧DonaPeak #391](/dona)[👧LoviePeak #391](/lovie)[👧SenaPeak #391](/sena) ## About the name Bristol Bristol is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1973 and has accumulated 12K births in the dataset. Bristol's peak popularity came in 2019 when it ranked #390\. Use the chart and map above to compare Bristol's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 2019 → ](/year/2019) * [ Names of the 2010s → ](/decade/2010s) * [ Names starting with "B" → ](/letter/b) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.