Brendon
Masculine · “prince”
Brendon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 20,081 boys against 22 girls since 1880.
Brendon is Brendan respelled, and the Irish behind it may be Welsh rather than Irish — a borrowed word meaning prince, attached to a monk who is said to have sailed to America.
How old is the name Brendon?
Brendon first appears in US birth records in 1927 — 98 years ago. The typical Brendon alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 19,500 people named Brendon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Brendon most popular?
Brendon peaked in 1998, reaching #318 nationally. Today it ranks #2676, 2,358 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Where it comes from
From breenhin to Brendon
The story of Brendon
Brendan the Navigator was a sixth-century Irish abbot, and the medieval Navigatio tells of his voyage west across the Atlantic to a promised land — a story taken seriously enough that a 1976 expedition sailed a leather boat from Ireland to Newfoundland to test it. American use of Brendon rose through the 1980s and peaked in the mid-1990s.
Meaningscholars disagree
prince, king
From the Irish Bréanainn, generally derived from the Welsh breenhin, 'prince' or 'king' — a borrowing into Irish rather than a native word. The derivation is widely accepted but not certain. The modern spelling is also confused with the English surname Brendon, from a Devon place name.
How the name formed
- breenhin
- Bréanainn
- Brendan
- Brendon
Related forms: Brendan · Breandán · Brandon
Pronouncing Brendon
BREN-dun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Brendon and Brendan are said identically.
Nicknames for Brendon
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
- 1927
- Most boys named
- 1999823 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #318reached in 1998
- Change vs 2023
- −27.3%48 in 2025, from 66
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.
Brendon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Brendan in English — spelling variant
- Breandán in Irish — related form
- Brandon in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Brendons among us
people named Brendon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 35,585 born in 2025 was named Brendon
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Houston test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Brendon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Houston climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Houston's path sketches the road Brendon is walking now.
Brendon 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Brendon is headed
Brendon is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Brendon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Brendon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Irish abbot with one of the great voyage stories stands behind it.
- The prince meaning is transparent and unusually good.
- Two firm syllables that carry well against any surname.
- Brendan is the standard spelling and will be assumed.
- Brandon is close enough to be confused constantly.
- It is closely dated to the 1990s in this spelling.
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Brendon
Masculine · #2676 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Brendons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,500 people named Brendon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Brendon in 2025?
- Brendon ranks #2676 among US boy names in 2025, with 48 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Brendon?
- About 1 in every 35,585 US boys born in 2025 was named Brendon — 48 in all.
- Will my child share the name Brendon with classmates?
- Brendon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Brendon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Isaak#2676 · Hershel#2676 · Mikhael#2676 · Kylon#2676 · Pryce#2676 · Davin#2676 · Juancarlos#2676 · Zyion#2676
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Brendon? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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