Brandon
Brandon was given to 1,326 boys in 2025, #261 among boys’ names; 774,654 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 741,000 Americans named Brandon and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 33 years old and half are between 25 and 41.
Brandon is the #32 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Brandon by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Brandon mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Brandon is “a male given name transferred from the surname, of 1980s and 1990s American and Canadian usage.” Its etymology gives the senses “broom shrub” (brōm) and “hill, dune” (dūn).
Also “a male given name transferred from the surname, of 1980s and 1990s American usage, variant of Brendan.”
From Middle English Brandon, Brampdon, Bramdun, Bremedon, Bromdun, from Old English brōmdūn, from brōm (“broom shrub”) + dūn (“hill, dune”). Doublet of Branton.
/ˈbɹændən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Brandon?
#261 among boys’ names, 2025
Brandon fell from #83 in 2015 to #261 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 2.7 to 0.78 per 1,000.
29,724 babies in 1992, the peak
Brandon peaked in 1992, when 29,724 babies were given it (29,628 boys, #6 among boys’ names). The 1,326 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,326 | #261 | 0.78 |
| 2024 | 1,562 | #230 | 0.91 |
| 2023 | 1,665 | #219 | 1.0 |
| 2022 | 1,777 | #210 | 1.0 |
| 2021 | 2,135 | #181 | 1.2 |
| 2020 | 2,312 | #165 | 1.3 |
| 2019 | 2,686 | #141 | 1.5 |
| 2018 | 3,214 | #124 | 1.8 |
| 2017 | 3,497 | #114 | 1.9 |
| 2016 | 4,101 | #99 | 2.2 |
Every recorded year (111)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5,128 | #83 | 2.7 |
| 2014 | 5,856 | #71 | 3.0 |
| 2013 | 6,235 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 2012 | 7,041 | #56 | 3.7 |
| 2011 | 7,821 | #47 | 4.1 |
| 2010 | 8,549 | #44 | 4.5 |
| 2009 | 9,848 | #38 | 5.0 |
| 2008 | 11,482 | #33 | 5.6 |
| 2007 | 12,148 | #31 | 5.9 |
| 2006 | 12,686 | #27 | 6.2 |
| 2005 | 12,947 | #27 | 6.5 |
| 2004 | 14,135 | #22 | 7.1 |
| 2003 | 15,245 | #21 | 7.7 |
| 2002 | 16,282 | #20 | 8.4 |
| 2001 | 17,893 | #18 | 9.2 |
| 2000 | 20,337 | #12 | 10.4 |
| 1999 | 21,601 | #11 | 11.2 |
| 1998 | 23,832 | #7 | 12.5 |
| 1997 | 25,197 | #8 | 13.4 |
| 1996 | 25,847 | #8 | 13.6 |
| 1995 | 26,904 | #8 | 14.1 |
| 1994 | 29,492 | #6 | 15.3 |
| 1993 | 28,735 | #6 | 14.7 |
| 1992 | 29,628 | #6 | 14.8 |
| 1991 | 26,021 | #15 | 12.9 |
| 1990 | 22,163 | #19 | 10.8 |
| 1989 | 23,310 | #18 | 11.6 |
| 1988 | 23,744 | #17 | 12.4 |
| 1987 | 24,823 | #14 | 13.3 |
| 1986 | 27,254 | #13 | 14.8 |
| 1985 | 29,304 | #13 | 15.9 |
| 1984 | 25,673 | #15 | 14.2 |
| 1983 | 23,519 | #17 | 13.1 |
| 1982 | 20,212 | #18 | 11.1 |
| 1981 | 20,206 | #19 | 11.3 |
| 1980 | 14,161 | #31 | 7.9 |
| 1979 | 11,302 | #35 | 6.6 |
| 1978 | 9,241 | #40 | 5.6 |
| 1977 | 8,272 | #41 | 5.0 |
| 1976 | 7,786 | #40 | 5.0 |
| 1975 | 7,090 | #44 | 4.5 |
| 1974 | 5,859 | #51 | 3.7 |
| 1973 | 5,065 | #58 | 3.2 |
| 1972 | 4,625 | #63 | 2.9 |
| 1971 | 3,263 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1970 | 2,544 | #131 | 1.4 |
| 1969 | 1,107 | #216 | 0.62 |
| 1968 | 759 | #263 | 0.44 |
| 1967 | 483 | #342 | 0.28 |
| 1966 | 397 | #379 | 0.22 |
| 1965 | 395 | #394 | 0.21 |
| 1964 | 303 | #455 | 0.15 |
| 1963 | 259 | #499 | 0.13 |
| 1962 | 194 | #566 | 0.09 |
| 1961 | 194 | #563 | 0.09 |
| 1960 | 185 | #574 | 0.09 |
| 1959 | 186 | #571 | 0.09 |
| 1958 | 132 | #664 | 0.06 |
| 1957 | 130 | #664 | 0.06 |
| 1956 | 168 | #586 | 0.08 |
| 1955 | 104 | #715 | 0.05 |
| 1954 | 162 | #579 | 0.08 |
| 1953 | 113 | #670 | 0.06 |
| 1952 | 76 | #804 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 50 | #992 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 54 | #935 | 0.03 |
| 1949 | 42 | #1,085 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 35 | #1,217 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 31 | #1,320 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 9 | #2,555 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 10 | #2,263 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 18 | #1,635 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 17 | #1,772 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 10 | #2,397 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 10 | #2,350 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,341 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 7 | #2,894 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 7 | #2,941 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 12 | #2,073 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 9 | #2,548 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 6 | #3,324 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 12 | #2,111 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 9 | #2,663 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,220 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 12 | #2,314 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,218 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 9 | #2,867 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 17 | #1,966 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 17 | #1,920 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 9 | #2,954 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 12 | #2,490 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 16 | #2,030 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 14 | #2,254 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 9 | #3,006 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 9 | #2,986 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,524 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 15 | #2,082 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 9 | #2,756 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 16 | #1,860 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 12 | #2,199 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 11 | #1,986 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Brandon a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Brandon has been given almost only to boys: 4,145 girls in 111 years of records.
Girls and boys named Brandon: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Brandon, and how old are they?
741,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 774,654 Americans ever recorded as Brandon. The median Brandon alive today is 33 years old; half are between 25 and 41.
The 2020 Census counted 642,620 people named Brandon (1,826 women and girls, 640,794 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 740,337 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 37 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,790 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 75,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 389,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 233,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 41,200 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Brandon born?
The states with the most babies named Brandon are Texas, California and Florida, with 33% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 172 | #230 | 1.0× |
| California | 165 | #226 | 0.9× |
| Florida | 93 | #228 | 1.0× |
| New York | 84 | #234 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 61 | #200 | 1.2× |
| Ohio | 54 | #234 | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 44 | #226 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 44 | #276 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 41 | #270 | 0.9× |
| Virginia | 35 | #246 | 1.1× |
Where Brandon is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Brandon is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1914 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Brandon with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 816,874 babies since 1880, Brandon is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,326 of their 1,387 babies (96%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Brandon
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Brandon and names like it
- Compare Brandon and BrandenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sBrandon peaked in 1992.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Brandon since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Brandon: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1992The year the most babies were named Brandon.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Brandon alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with BMost given first.