Girl · Dutch (American place name) · International
Brooklyn
BrooklynSay it BROOK-lin
- Meaning today
- Stream, water
- Original meaning
- "the New York borough, named after the Dutch town Breukelen" New Netherland Institute
- Say it
- BROOK-lin
- Other spellings
- Brooklynn, Brooklin
Brooklyn
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Brooklyn meaning
Brooklyn is an international girl's name of Dutch origin (American place name).
Meaning today
Stream, water
Original Dutch (American place name) meaning
"the New York borough, named after the Dutch town Breukelen"
Source: New Netherland Institute, Breuckelen (Brooklyn) · entry Breuckelen · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
Brooklyn is an American place name used as a first name. The New York borough was founded by Dutch settlers as Breuckelen, after the town of Breukelen near Utrecht in the Netherlands, and the English turned it into Brookland and then Brooklyn after 1664. The Dutch name is usually explained from broek, "marsh" or "bog", rather than the often repeated "broken land". Name lists give Brooklyn as "stream" or "water", by reading the English spelling as brook and lyn. As a first name it carries the city's associations and has an easy, friendly sound.
References: New Netherland Institute, Breuckelen (Brooklyn) · Wikipedia, Brooklyn
Popularity abroad
- #118 United States, girls 2025 (down 11 from 107 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration - #951 England and Wales, girls 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Brooklyn · Brooklynn · Brooklin