Brand
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "fire" or "to burn".
Name Census estimates that about 281 living Americans carry the first name Brand. It is a predominantly male name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Brand today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brand births was 1988 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brand. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
281
~ 1 in 1,219,766 Americans
Peak year
1988
14 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2022 SSA rank
#9,085
Tracked since 1948
Gender
Gender distribution for Brand
Brand leans heavily male at 94.1% of total registrations, but 18 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brand as a male name
- Ranked #9,085 in 2022
- 8 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1953 (11 births)
Brand as a female name
- Ranked #9,351 in 1988
- 7 female births in 1988
- Peak: 1988 (7 births)
Popularity
Brand: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brand from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brand by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Brand during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brand
The name Brand has its origins in the Germanic language, deriving from the Old High German word "brant," which means "to burn" or "firebrand." This name's roots can be traced back to the early medieval period when it was commonly used in various regions of present-day Germany and the Netherlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brand can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a renowned German epic poem from around the 13th century. In this literary work, Brand is the name of a knight who plays a significant role in the narrative.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brand. One of the earliest was Brand van Steenbergen (c. 1350-1426), a Dutch scholar and theologian who served as a professor at the University of Cologne. He was renowned for his contributions to the study of canon law and his treatises on ecclesiastical subjects.
Another prominent figure was Brand Aydelotte (1880-1949), an American educator and diplomat. He served as the president of Swarthmore College from 1921 to 1940 and later became the first American secretary-general of the Rhodes Trust, responsible for overseeing the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship program.
In the realm of literature, Brand Whitlock (1869-1934) was an American writer, journalist, and diplomat. He gained recognition for his novels and served as the United States Ambassador to Belgium during World War I, playing a crucial role in protecting Belgian civilians during the German occupation.
The name Brand also had a significant presence in the world of sports. Brand Blanshard (1892-1987) was an American philosopher and former Olympic athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, where he won a silver medal in the high jump event.
Finally, Brand van Duren (c. 1430-1491) was a Dutch theologian and philosopher who lived during the Renaissance period. He was known for his teachings at the University of Louvain and his contributions to the study of Aristotelian philosophy and logic.
People
Brand + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brand as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Brand: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brand?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 281 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brand going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,219,766 US residents.
Is Brand a common name?
We classify Brand as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 307 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brand most popular?
The single biggest year for Brand was 1988, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brand is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brand a male name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Brand in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.