FastNamesBrandon
English and Celtic name meaning "Topographic name derived from Old English brōm ('gorse', 'broom') and dūn ('hill'), meaning 'hill where broom shrubs grow'; occasionally influenced by the Celtic name Brendan ('prince').". Ranked 261st for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Brandon
Topographic name derived from Old English brōm ('gorse', 'broom') and dūn ('hill'), meaning 'hill where broom shrubs grow'; occasionally influenced by the Celtic name Brendan ('prince').
Linguistically, Brandon is classified under English and Celtic naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "BRAN-duhn".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Brandon has been given to a total of 770,509 boys. It has also been given to 4,145 girls.
Peak year: Brandon reached its highest relative share among boys in 1985, when 29,304 babies received the name (15,855 per million births).
All-time best rank: 6th place, first achieved in 1992.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 261st with 1,326 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 83rd (down 178 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Brandon in the 1990s than in any other decade (259,420 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 74 |
| 1920s | 125 |
| 1930s | 86 |
| 1940s | 192 |
| 1950s | 1,175 |
| 1960s | 4,276 |
| 1970s | 65,047 |
| 1980s | 232,206 |
| 1990s | 259,420 |
| 2000s | 143,003 |
| 2010s | 54,128 |
| 2020s | 10,777 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Brandon is most common in the US
Accounting for when Brandon was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Louisiana: 1.4 times the national rate (18,509 births since 1910).
- Hawaii: 1.4 times the national rate (3,629 births since 1910).
- West Virginia: 1.3 times the national rate (6,127 births since 1910).
- Alabama: 1.3 times the national rate (14,672 births since 1910).
- North Carolina: 1.3 times the national rate (25,970 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Brandon?
About 739,000 living American boys and men share the name Brandon. Additionally, an estimated 4,000 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Brandon is 33 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Brandon
Brandon originated primarily as an English habitational surname denoting families dwelling near prominent geographical features, specifically hills covered in yellow-flowered wild broom shrubs (Old English brōm-dūn). Several medieval English settlements carried this name, notably Brandon in Suffolk, Warwickshire, and County Durham. Additionally, in some British family lines, Brandon served as a phonetic Anglicization or variant of the venerable Celtic name Brendan, derived from Old Irish Brénainn ('prince' or 'king').
The surname gained aristocratic luster in Tudor England through Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (c. 1484–1545), a close companion of King Henry VIII and husband to Mary Tudor, Queen of France. While occasional use as a masculine baptismal name occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Brandon began expanding more broadly into general English and American usage during the mid-twentieth century as parents favored strong, two-syllable surnames ending in -on.
In United States birth statistics, Brandon began an astonishing ascent in the late 1960s, climbing into the national top one hundred by 1971. Its popularity peaked in the early 1990s, when it ranked consistently inside the national top ten from 1992 through 1998, reaching an all-time peak of rank 6 in 1992, 1993, and 1994. Its prominence during this era was further reinforced by popular culture figures, television characters, and professional athletes.
Notable people named Brandon
- Brandon Lee (1965–1993), American actor and martial artist
- Brandon Flowers (1981–), American singer and frontman of The Killers
- Brandon Roy (1984–), American professional basketball player
- Brandon Sanderson (1975–), American fantasy and science fiction author
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 37.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 51.
- P. H. Reaney, R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames (1997), p. 61.