Brandon is a masculine given name that is a transferred use of a
surname and place name derived from the
Old Englishbrōm, meaning
broom or
gorse, and dūn, meaning hill. It is also sometimes a variant of the Irish masculine given name,
Breandán, meaning "prince".[2]
Origin of the name
The given name Brandon as a variant form of the Irish given name Brendan.[3][unreliable source] is an
Anglicised form of the
Old Irish name, Bréanainn, which is in turn derived from the earlier Old Irish Brénainn. The medieval Latin form of the name, Brendanus, has influenced its spelling in the modern English and Irish forms. However, the name has no meaning in
the Irish language, and was absorbed from the
Old Welshbreenhin, meaning "
prince" or "
chieftain."[contradictory]
In the instance of the Welsh "Bran" as the origin, meaning "crow" or "little raven", there is also a general Celtic nebula of related words and names across the European continent.[4]
In the instance of a more probable Anglo-Saxon origin, the surname can be derived from any of the numerous place-names in
England, composed of two elements (brōm + dūn) derived from the
Old English language. The first element, brōm, means "
broom" or "
gorse", and the second, dūn, means "
hill". Such places can include:
Brandon,
County Durham;
Brandon,
Northumberland;
Brandon,
Suffolk;
Brandon,
Warwickshire; and other locations.[5] However, one location,
Brandon in
Lincolnshire, may be connected to the
River Brant, which runs close by.[5] This river's name is derived from two Old English elements: brant, meaning "steep", "deep"; and dūn, meaning "
hill"[6] The name of this location is probably in reference to the river's steep banks.[5] A famous instance of the use of 'Brandon' as a surname is that of
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. He was a close friend and
brother-in-law of King
Henry VIII. In certain cases, it can be the French surname Brandon, which derives from the other French surname Brand, itself from the Old French brand, brant "sword" or from the French word brandon "burning material to set fire".[7][8] Variant form is Brandin.[9]
In the
Canadianprovince of
British Columbia, the name ranked as the 66th most popular male name for the year 2007; it did not rank as a female name (to rank the name had to have been used by 5 or more occurrences).[11]
Chile
In
Chile, the name has not cracked the top 50 male names in the years spanning 1999 to 2006; from 2003 to 2006 it was amongst the top 100 male names.
In the year 2009, Brandon was the 160th most common male name, recorded in births, in the
Netherlands; there were 67 occurrences of the name recorded that year.[20] The previous year the name ranked 159th, with 73 recorded occurrences.[21]
Republic of Ireland
Rank of male Irish baby births, and rank of male Irish names[22]
Year
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Rank (births)
67
89
88
67
92
80
85
63
84
74
75
Rank (total)
74
67
67
83
70
76
78
98
79
97
101
Sweden
In
Sweden, there were 230 males registered in 2009 who had the first name Brandon; of these men, 170 recorded the name as a
nickname.[23] In the years spanning 2002 to 2009, the name was not amongst the top 100 male, or female, baby names.[24]
United Kingdom
In the
United Kingdom, the name has risen in popularity since the mid-1990s.[25]
England and Wales
In
England and
Wales, in the year 2008, Brandon was the 70th most common male baby name, along with Breasen being a form of Brandon or meaning son of Brandon, with 1,011 occurrences recorded.[26] It had fallen in rank, slightly from the previous year when it was ranked 66th most common, with 1161 occurrences.[27] The name has dramatically fallen in popularity since 1998, when it was ranked 36th, with 2142 occurrences recorded.[28]
In
Northern Ireland, Brandon was not amongst the top 20 names of male, or female, babies born in the year 2009.[29] It did not crack the top 100 male, or the top 100 female, names registered in the two previous years either.[30][31] In 2002 the name was ranked 84 most common male baby name, falling drastically from 30th ranked name the year before.[32]
Rank and numbers of male Northern Irish baby births
The name did not rank amongst the top 100 male baby names in 2007 and 2008.[30][31]
In
Scotland, in the year 2009, the name was ranked as the 90th most common names for male babies, with 67 occurrences recorded. The name had dramatically fallen in popularity from the previous year. In the years 1998 and 1999, the name was the 46th most common name for male births, although the name has fallen in rank in almost every year since then.
The name is, for the most part, found in
North America. In 1982, the name was the 7th most common given name amongst
African American males, and the 23rd most common name amongst
White American males.[3] The name was ranked in the
1990 United States Census as being the 68th most common name amongst males.[54] Usage of the name in the United States has declined in recent years due to associations with
Let's Go Brandon, a veiled slur against President
Joseph Biden.[55]
The
Social Security Administration website lists the top 1,000 American baby names for every year since 1879. In the year 1950, Brandon first reached the top 1,000 male names for babies who were registered for
Social Security numbers for births. That year it was the 936th most common masculine name. From that year until the beginning of the 1990s, the name has, for the most part, risen in popularity with every successive year. It reached its peak in the years 1992, 1993, and 1994, when it was the 6th most popular name amongst male babies. The name has fallen in popularity in almost every year since then; in 2009, it was ranked the 38th most common name registered that year.[56]
Brandon is considered to be a very masculine name; however, in the United States it has also been used as a feminine name. In 1981, it reached the top 1,000 female names for babies who were registered for
Social Security numbers for births; that year it was the 748th most common female name registered for births. The name stayed within the top 1,000 female names from 1981 to 1988, fluctuating in rank; it reached its peak in 1985, when it ranked 661st; in 1988, it ranked 990th.[56]
In 2009, the names Brandon and Bryan were ranked as the 15th most common names for male
twins, according to Social Security number applications for births.[57]
Years when the name ranked amongst the top 1,000 American baby names
The following table lists the year and rank when Brandon ranked amongst the top 1,000 male, or the top 1,000 female, baby names in the United States.[56] If no rank is given in the table, then the name was not amongst the top 1,000. The highest rank for males, and for females, is labelled in
boldface.
Year
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
Rank (male)
936
985
812
662
583
723
585
666
661
567
577
565
566
498
455
393
379
341
263
217
Year
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
Rank (male)
131
95
63
58
51
44
40
41
40
35
30
19
18
17
15
13
13
14
17
18
Rank (female)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
748
804
683
706
661
683
806
990
-
Year
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Rank (male)
19
15
6
7
6
8
8
7
7
11
12
18
20
21
22
27
27
31
33
38
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Rank (male)
44
47
56
70
71
83
99
114
124
141
167
181
211
Feminine forms
It has been stated that the feminine given name Brandy is derived from a word referring to a
liquor called "
brandy wine", or "brandewine". These English words are derived from the
Dutch languagebrandewijn,[58] meaning "burnt wine", in reference to a
distilledwine.[59] However, the name Brandy is now considered to be more likely a feminine form of Brandon. Variant forms of Brandy include: Brandie, and Brandi.[58]
People with the name Brandon
Academia
Brandon Carter (born 1942), Australian theoretical physicist
Brandon Centerwall (born 1954), American epidemiologist and former professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences
^Brandon,
Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 10 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the placename "Brandon": Mills, A.D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names.
Oxford University Press.
^Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse, 1980, p. 63b.
^Brandon,
Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 10 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandon": Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names.
Oxford University Press.
^
abBrandy,
Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 10 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandy": Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names.
Oxford University Press.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Brandon is a masculine given name that is a transferred use of a
surname and place name derived from the
Old Englishbrōm, meaning
broom or
gorse, and dūn, meaning hill. It is also sometimes a variant of the Irish masculine given name,
Breandán, meaning "prince".[2]
Origin of the name
The given name Brandon as a variant form of the Irish given name Brendan.[3][unreliable source] is an
Anglicised form of the
Old Irish name, Bréanainn, which is in turn derived from the earlier Old Irish Brénainn. The medieval Latin form of the name, Brendanus, has influenced its spelling in the modern English and Irish forms. However, the name has no meaning in
the Irish language, and was absorbed from the
Old Welshbreenhin, meaning "
prince" or "
chieftain."[contradictory]
In the instance of the Welsh "Bran" as the origin, meaning "crow" or "little raven", there is also a general Celtic nebula of related words and names across the European continent.[4]
In the instance of a more probable Anglo-Saxon origin, the surname can be derived from any of the numerous place-names in
England, composed of two elements (brōm + dūn) derived from the
Old English language. The first element, brōm, means "
broom" or "
gorse", and the second, dūn, means "
hill". Such places can include:
Brandon,
County Durham;
Brandon,
Northumberland;
Brandon,
Suffolk;
Brandon,
Warwickshire; and other locations.[5] However, one location,
Brandon in
Lincolnshire, may be connected to the
River Brant, which runs close by.[5] This river's name is derived from two Old English elements: brant, meaning "steep", "deep"; and dūn, meaning "
hill"[6] The name of this location is probably in reference to the river's steep banks.[5] A famous instance of the use of 'Brandon' as a surname is that of
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. He was a close friend and
brother-in-law of King
Henry VIII. In certain cases, it can be the French surname Brandon, which derives from the other French surname Brand, itself from the Old French brand, brant "sword" or from the French word brandon "burning material to set fire".[7][8] Variant form is Brandin.[9]
In the
Canadianprovince of
British Columbia, the name ranked as the 66th most popular male name for the year 2007; it did not rank as a female name (to rank the name had to have been used by 5 or more occurrences).[11]
Chile
In
Chile, the name has not cracked the top 50 male names in the years spanning 1999 to 2006; from 2003 to 2006 it was amongst the top 100 male names.
In the year 2009, Brandon was the 160th most common male name, recorded in births, in the
Netherlands; there were 67 occurrences of the name recorded that year.[20] The previous year the name ranked 159th, with 73 recorded occurrences.[21]
Republic of Ireland
Rank of male Irish baby births, and rank of male Irish names[22]
Year
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Rank (births)
67
89
88
67
92
80
85
63
84
74
75
Rank (total)
74
67
67
83
70
76
78
98
79
97
101
Sweden
In
Sweden, there were 230 males registered in 2009 who had the first name Brandon; of these men, 170 recorded the name as a
nickname.[23] In the years spanning 2002 to 2009, the name was not amongst the top 100 male, or female, baby names.[24]
United Kingdom
In the
United Kingdom, the name has risen in popularity since the mid-1990s.[25]
England and Wales
In
England and
Wales, in the year 2008, Brandon was the 70th most common male baby name, along with Breasen being a form of Brandon or meaning son of Brandon, with 1,011 occurrences recorded.[26] It had fallen in rank, slightly from the previous year when it was ranked 66th most common, with 1161 occurrences.[27] The name has dramatically fallen in popularity since 1998, when it was ranked 36th, with 2142 occurrences recorded.[28]
In
Northern Ireland, Brandon was not amongst the top 20 names of male, or female, babies born in the year 2009.[29] It did not crack the top 100 male, or the top 100 female, names registered in the two previous years either.[30][31] In 2002 the name was ranked 84 most common male baby name, falling drastically from 30th ranked name the year before.[32]
Rank and numbers of male Northern Irish baby births
The name did not rank amongst the top 100 male baby names in 2007 and 2008.[30][31]
In
Scotland, in the year 2009, the name was ranked as the 90th most common names for male babies, with 67 occurrences recorded. The name had dramatically fallen in popularity from the previous year. In the years 1998 and 1999, the name was the 46th most common name for male births, although the name has fallen in rank in almost every year since then.
The name is, for the most part, found in
North America. In 1982, the name was the 7th most common given name amongst
African American males, and the 23rd most common name amongst
White American males.[3] The name was ranked in the
1990 United States Census as being the 68th most common name amongst males.[54] Usage of the name in the United States has declined in recent years due to associations with
Let's Go Brandon, a veiled slur against President
Joseph Biden.[55]
The
Social Security Administration website lists the top 1,000 American baby names for every year since 1879. In the year 1950, Brandon first reached the top 1,000 male names for babies who were registered for
Social Security numbers for births. That year it was the 936th most common masculine name. From that year until the beginning of the 1990s, the name has, for the most part, risen in popularity with every successive year. It reached its peak in the years 1992, 1993, and 1994, when it was the 6th most popular name amongst male babies. The name has fallen in popularity in almost every year since then; in 2009, it was ranked the 38th most common name registered that year.[56]
Brandon is considered to be a very masculine name; however, in the United States it has also been used as a feminine name. In 1981, it reached the top 1,000 female names for babies who were registered for
Social Security numbers for births; that year it was the 748th most common female name registered for births. The name stayed within the top 1,000 female names from 1981 to 1988, fluctuating in rank; it reached its peak in 1985, when it ranked 661st; in 1988, it ranked 990th.[56]
In 2009, the names Brandon and Bryan were ranked as the 15th most common names for male
twins, according to Social Security number applications for births.[57]
Years when the name ranked amongst the top 1,000 American baby names
The following table lists the year and rank when Brandon ranked amongst the top 1,000 male, or the top 1,000 female, baby names in the United States.[56] If no rank is given in the table, then the name was not amongst the top 1,000. The highest rank for males, and for females, is labelled in
boldface.
Year
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
Rank (male)
936
985
812
662
583
723
585
666
661
567
577
565
566
498
455
393
379
341
263
217
Year
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
Rank (male)
131
95
63
58
51
44
40
41
40
35
30
19
18
17
15
13
13
14
17
18
Rank (female)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
748
804
683
706
661
683
806
990
-
Year
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Rank (male)
19
15
6
7
6
8
8
7
7
11
12
18
20
21
22
27
27
31
33
38
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Rank (male)
44
47
56
70
71
83
99
114
124
141
167
181
211
Feminine forms
It has been stated that the feminine given name Brandy is derived from a word referring to a
liquor called "
brandy wine", or "brandewine". These English words are derived from the
Dutch languagebrandewijn,[58] meaning "burnt wine", in reference to a
distilledwine.[59] However, the name Brandy is now considered to be more likely a feminine form of Brandon. Variant forms of Brandy include: Brandie, and Brandi.[58]
People with the name Brandon
Academia
Brandon Carter (born 1942), Australian theoretical physicist
Brandon Centerwall (born 1954), American epidemiologist and former professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences
^Brandon,
Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 10 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the placename "Brandon": Mills, A.D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names.
Oxford University Press.
^Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse, 1980, p. 63b.
^Brandon,
Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 10 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandon": Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names.
Oxford University Press.
^
abBrandy,
Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 10 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandy": Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names.
Oxford University Press.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.