Head to head · Boys' names
Brandon vs Omar
#261 vs #260 in 2025
Omar is a whisker ahead (#260 vs #261 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Omar is holding its place on the charts, Brandon is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Omar leads 3 measures of 6; Brandon leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Brandon —, Omar #550 — Omar higher
- 1890s: Brandon —, Omar #571 — Omar higher
- 1900s: Brandon —, Omar #753 — Omar higher
- 1910s: Brandon #2221, Omar #655 — Omar higher
- 1920s: Brandon #2453, Omar #721 — Omar higher
- 1930s: Brandon #2541, Omar #889 — Omar higher
- 1940s: Brandon #1883, Omar #963 — Omar higher
- 1950s: Brandon #718, Omar #850 — Brandon higher
- 1960s: Brandon #425, Omar #605 — Brandon higher
- 1970s: Brandon #60, Omar #245 — Brandon higher
- 1980s: Brandon #18, Omar #188 — Brandon higher
- 1990s: Brandon #9, Omar #146 — Brandon higher
- 2000s: Brandon #25, Omar #144 — Brandon higher
- 2010s: Brandon #85, Omar #214 — Brandon higher
- 2020s: Brandon #211, Omar #258 — Brandon higher
Brandon stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Brandon has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Brandon | Omar |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #550 |
| 1890s | — | #571 |
| 1900s | — | #753 |
| 1910s | #2221 | #655 |
| 1920s | #2453 | #721 |
| 1930s | #2541 | #889 |
| 1940s | #1883 | #963 |
| 1950s | #718 | #850 |
| 1960s | #425 | #605 |
| 1970s | #60 | #245 |
| 1980s | #18 | #188 |
| 1990s | #9 | #146 |
| 2000s | #25 | #144 |
| 2010s | #85 | #214 |
| 2020s | #211 | #258 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Brandon
the hill where broom grows
Old English brom, the yellow-flowered shrub, and dun, a hill. A few of the English Brandons have a different first element, burna, a stream, so not every Brandon on the map means the same thing.
brom → dun → Brandon
How it traveled
The English Brandons are scattered and unalike: Suffolk's is a flint town, Durham's a colliery village, Warwickshire's a hamlet by the Avon. As a surname the name crossed to America early; as a first name it was rare until the twentieth century, when it climbed steadily and then very fast.
Omar
flourishing, long-lived
The Arabic name ʿUmar comes from the root ʿ-m-r, which carries ideas of life, long life, and thriving habitation. A separate and much rarer Omar appears in Genesis as a grandson of Esau; that Hebrew name's meaning has never been established, and it is not the source of the modern name.
ʿUmar (Arabic) → Umar → Omar
How it traveled
Omar is the English and Spanish spelling of the Arabic ʿUmar. Its standing in the Muslim world rests largely on ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph, who ruled in the seventh century — since then it has been among the most-given names from Morocco to Indonesia.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Brandon
BRAN-dun
Two syllables, weight at the front, the second reduced almost to a hum. Said the same way on both sides of the Atlantic.
- Bran — Cut from the front; a standing name in Welsh and Irish story, which gives it more weight than most short forms.
- Brand — Used inside families; it is also an Old Norse name and an English surname on its own.
- B — The bare initial, used among friends and on teams where several Brandons overlap.
Omar
OH-mar
The standard American pronunciation stresses the first syllable. In Arabic it is closer to OO-mar, with the stress falling differently and an opening consonant English does not have; Spanish speakers often say oh-MAR. All are correct in their own settings, and families usually pick one and let the other pass.
- O — An initial used informally among friends and teammates; not a name anyone is registered under.
- Omi — A family-level diminutive heard in some Arabic- and Spanish-speaking households; rarely used outside the home.
- Momo — A playful reshaping used within families and friend groups, more common among children than adults.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Brandon if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsBrandon is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalBrandon entered the US charts in 1914
- a name that feels very nowBrandon is stepping back from its peak
Choose Omar if you want…
- a long American recordOmar was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 84% for Brandon
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Brandon
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing, in almost any English-speaking country.
- The meaning is concrete and easy to picture: a hill covered in yellow broom.
- It has been common long enough to be entirely unremarkable, which is a strength if you want a name that does not announce itself.
To consider
- It is one of the defining names of its generation and will place a person in time for anyone who hears it.
- Brendan, Branden, Brandan and Brenden are close enough to be confused with it constantly.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls too, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
Omar
Strengths
- Spelled the way it is said in English, with no silent letters and no fork in the road between two common spellings.
- Works unaltered in Arabic-, Spanish-, and English-speaking settings, which matters in households that live in more than one of them.
- On US records continuously across generations rather than arriving in a single wave, so it reads as neither dated nor new.
To consider
- There is no established short form. Omar is what he will be called at home, at school, and at work — fine for many families, but worth knowing if you like having a nickname in reserve.
- Because of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, the name carries strong Sunni associations and is given far less often in Shia families. If that distinction matters in your family, it is worth talking through early.
- Expect a lifetime of small pronunciation negotiations: OH-mar, oh-MAR, and the Arabic ʿUmar are all in circulation, and people will guess based on their own background.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Brandon
84%chance Brandon feels dated by 2040
Brandon is coming down from a big peak (#6 in 1992). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Omar
40%chance Omar feels dated by 2040
Omar sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Brandon and Omar in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Brandon and Omar?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- all guides
Where Brandon and Omar each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Brandon or Omar — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Brandon or Omar?
- Omar, in 2025: Omar ranked #260 with 1,333 babies; Brandon ranked #261 with 1,326 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Brandon or Omar?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Brandon moved down 96 places; Omar moved down 6 places.
- Which is the older name, Brandon or Omar?
- Brandon entered the US charts in 1914; Omar was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Omar is the older name.
- How many people are named Brandon and Omar?
- About 741,000 people named Brandon are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 101,000 people named Omar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Brandons or Omars in the classroom?
- Brandon will almost certainly be the only one in school. Omar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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