Brandon is a masculine given name which originates from two or possibly three separate sources, two
Celtic, the other,
Anglo-Saxon, and has historically been used by these different cultures independently. Today, most people with the name do not have any connection or lineage with any of these sources and use them as if they were the same name. In the instances of the Celtic origins, it is either a variant of the Irish masculine given name,
Breandán, meaning prince or king, or descended from the
Old Welsh name
Brân, meaning "crow" or "little raven". The Anglo-Saxon origin is the
surname ''
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
''.
Origin of the name
The given name ''Brandon'' as a variant form of the Irish given name ''
Brendan Brendan may refer to:
People
* Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint.
* Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above
* Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...
''
[. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandon": ] is an
Anglicised form of the
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
name, ''Bréanainn'', which is in turn derived from the earlier Old Irish ''Brénainn''. The mediaeval 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 Welsh ''breenhin'', meaning
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
or
Chieftain
A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribe
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia.
Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...
.
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.
In the instance of a more probable Anglo-Saxon origin, the surname can be derived from any of the numerous place-names in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, composed of two elements (brōm + dūn) derived from the
Old English language
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th cen ...
. The first element, ''brōm'', means "
broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
" or "
gorse", and the second, ''dūn'', means "
hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit.
Terminology
The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...
". Such places can include:
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
County Durham;
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
;
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
Suffolk;
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
; and other locations.
However, one location,
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
, may be connected to the
River Brant, which runs close by.
This river's name is derived from two Old English elements: ''brant'', meaning "steep", "deep"; and ''dūn'', meaning "
hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit.
Terminology
The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...
"
[. The webpage cited the following book for the placename "Brandon": ] The name of this location is probably in reference to the river's steep banks.
[. The webpage cited the following book for the surname "Brandon": ] A famous instance of the use of 'Brandon' as a surname is that of
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII.
Biography
Charles Brandon was the second ...
. He was a close friend and
brother-in-law
A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations.
More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referre ...
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". Variant form is ''Brandin''.
Statistics
Australia
In
Australia's most populated
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, in the year 2009, ''Brandon'' did not crack the top 100 male, or top 100 female, names of babies registered in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
Canada
In the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, 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).
Chile
In
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, 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.
;Rank and percent of the male name
The Netherlands
In the year 2009, ''Brandon'' was the 160th most common male name, recorded in births, in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
; there were 67 occurrences of the name recorded that year. The previous year the name ranked 159th, with 73 recorded occurrences.
Republic of Ireland
;Rank of male Irish baby births, and rank of male Irish names
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
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
. In the years spanning 2002 to 2009, the name was not amongst the top 100 male, or female, baby names.
United Kingdom
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the name has risen in popularity since the mid-1990s.
[. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandon": ]
England and Wales
In
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, 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.
It had fallen in rank, slightly from the previous year when it was ranked 66th most common, with 1161 occurrences.
The name has dramatically fallen in popularity since 1998, when it was ranked 36th, with 2142 occurrences recorded.
;Rank and numbers of English and Welsh baby births
Northern Ireland
In
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, ''Brandon'' was not amongst the top 20 names of male, or female, babies born in the year 2009. It did not crack the top 100 male, or the top 100 female, names registered in the two previous years either.
In 2002 the name was ranked 84 most common male baby name, falling drastically from 30th ranked name the year before.
;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.
Scotland
In
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, 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.
;Rank and percent of male Scottish baby births
United States
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
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
males, and the 23rd most common name amongst
White American
White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...
males.
The name was ranked in the
1990 United States Census as being the 68th most common name amongst males.
The
Social Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...
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.
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.
In 2009, the names ''Brandon'' and ''
Bryan'' were ranked as the 15th most common names for male
twins
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
, according to Social Security number applications for births.
;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.
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
In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech.
Methods and use
The most common methods in W ...
.
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 language
Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...
''brandewijn'',
meaning "burnt wine", in reference to a
distilled wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
.
[ See also: ] However, the name ''Brandy'' is now considered to be more likely a feminine form of ''Brandon''. Variant forms of ''Brandy'' include: ''Brandie'', and ''Brandi''.
[. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Brandy": ]
People with the name Brandon
Actors
*
Brandon Chang, Taiwanese actor and musician (born 1985)
*
Brandon T. Jackson, American actor, comedian, rapper and writer (born 1984)
*
Brandon Lee
Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film '' T ...
, American actor and martial artist (1965–1993)
*
Brandon McClelland, Australian actor (born 1992)
*
Brandon McInnis
Brandon McInnis is an American voice actor and translator. He previously worked as a software engineer before pursuing a career as an actor after being convinced by his brother to do so. Some of his noteworthy roles include Finral in ''Black Clove ...
, American voice actor
*
Brandon Jay McLaren, Canadian actor (born 1980)
*
Brandon Routh
Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film '' Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the titular character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of N ...
, American actor (born 1979)
*
Brandon Scott
Brandon Maurice Scott (born April 8, 1984) is an American politician serving as the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland since 2020. The city of Baltimore uses a strong mayor-council structure for their government, meaning Scott holds strong mayoral po ...
, American actor, voice actor and producer (born 1981)
*
Brandon Mychal Smith
Brandon Mychal Smith (born May 29, 1989) is an American actor, singer, dancer, and rapper. He is best known for playing Bug Wendal in ''Gridiron Gang'', Li'l Danny Dawkins in '' Phil of the Future'', Nico Harris in ''Sonny with a Chance'' and ' ...
, American actor, singer, dancer and rapper (born 1989)
See also
*
*
Brandan
Brandan is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Brandan Craig (born 2004), American soccer player
*Brandan Greczkowski (born 1997), American judoka
*Brandan Kearney (born 1993), American basketball player
...
, given name and surname
*
Branden (given name)
Branden is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Branden Albert (born 1984), former American football offensive tackle
* Branden Becker (born 1996), American professional baseball player
*Branden Bowen (born 1996), American football ...
*
Brandin
Brandin is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
*Brandin Bryant (born 1993), American football player
*Brandin Cooks (born 1993), American football player
*Brandin Cote (born 1981), Canadian ice hockey player
*Bra ...
, name
*
Let's Go Brandon
"Let's Go Brandon" is a political slogan and Internet meme used as a substitute for the phrase "Fuck Joe Biden" in reference to Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States.
Chants of "Fuck Joe Biden" began during sporting ...
, a contemptuous political slogan targeting US President Joe Biden
References
{{given name, Brandon, nocat
English-language masculine given names
English masculine given names
Given names originating from a surname
Masculine given names
North American given names