Brandon
Feminine · “the hill where broom grows”
Brandon is given to boys far more often — 770,509 boys against 4,145 girls since 1880. See Brandon as a boy name
Brandon is an English place name that became a surname and then, in America, a first name near the top of every list. There are Brandons in Suffolk, Norfolk, Warwickshire and Durham, and families took the name from whichever one they came from. It is not the English form of Brendan, though nearly everybody assumes it is.
How old is the name Brandon?
Brandon first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Brandon alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 4,000 people named Brandon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Brandon most popular?
Brandon peaked in 1985, reaching #662 nationally. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From brom to Brandon
The story of Brandon
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. Its resemblance to Brendan is pure coincidence of sound. Brendan is Irish, from Breanainn, and traces back through a Welsh word for a prince; Brandon is English and traces back to a hill covered in broom. The two names met on American lists and have been trading spellings ever since, which is where Brandan, Branden and Brenden come from, none of which is either name properly.
Meaning
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.
How the name formed
- brom
- dun
- Brandon
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Brandon
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 1985273 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #662reached in 1985
- Change vs 2018
- 0.0%6 in 2019, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Brandons among us
people named Brandon are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Brandon sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- 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.
- It ends on a soft unstressed syllable, so it sits well in front of almost any surname.
- 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.
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What they receive
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Brandon
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Brandons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,000 people named Brandon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Brandon in 2025?
- Brandon is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Brandon with classmates?
- Brandon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Brandon? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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