A South Australian bent for the name Brenton has its postwar peak between 1944 and 1988

Brenton Ragless, Adelaide Channel 9 newsreader, carries on the South Australian postwar Brenton name tradition.

One of South Australia’s quirks was the postwar popularity of the name Brenton. It’s was in the top 100 baby names in South Australia in every year, except one, between 1944 and 1988. Since 1944, 3,325 South Australian babies were named Brenton.

Its peak popularity was in 1962, when 134 boys were named Brenton, making it the 19th most popular male name.

In South Australia, more people per capita than other Australian states also have the last name Brenton. This could stem from the many Cornish people who emigrated to South Australia in the 1840s because of a famine in Cornwall and a copper mining boom in towns such as Burra, Kapunda and Moonta. Using the surname Brenton as a first or middle name is a noticeable trend among the Cornish diaspora.

The first famous internationally famous Brenton was Brenton Langbein, a child prodigy violinist from Gawler, who began playing with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at 14 and at 20 became a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He settled in Zurich in 1953.

Also with an international profile, Brenton Cox was appointed executive general manager of Adelaide Airport in 2013. He was previously a non-executive director of Sydney and Hobart airports, having spent most of his career with Macquarie Capital in London and in Sydney with MAp Airports and Sydney Airport. This included airport property transactions and management throughout Europe. Cox started in commercial law for Fisher Jeffries in Adelaide and has a masters of law from Cambridge University, a first class honours degree in law from Adelaide University as well as a bachelor of commerce (accounting) and a bachelor of finance from Adelaide University. He is admitted to practise as a solicitor and barrister of the supreme court of South Australia and high court of Australia

Other well-known Brentons include former Adelaide Crows football coach Brenton Sanderson, former South Australian player/coach and Australian Football League player Brenton Phillips and Pirates of the Carribean film actor Brenton Thwaites. Adelaide Channel 9 newsreader Brenton Ragless was born in in the 1970s when Brenton seemed to be at its zenith.

Adelaide music rapper Brenton Torrens, born in 1997, may be part of a later generation keeping the name on trend.