Brandan
A masculine given name of Celtic origin meaning 'prince'.
Name Census estimates that about 5,578 living Americans carry the first name Brandan. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Brandan today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brandan births was 1993 (263 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brandan. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Brandan is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 96 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,448 Americans
Peak year
1993
263 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,558
Tracked since 1955
Gender
Gender distribution for Brandan
Brandan leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 96 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Brandan as a male name
- Ranked #12,558 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (263 births)
Brandan as a female name
- Ranked #12,614 in 1989
- 5 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1985 (13 births)
Popularity
Brandan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brandan from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,227 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brandan 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 Brandan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brandans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Brandan, while Utah, Mississippi, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brandan
The name Brandan originates from the Irish language and culture, first appearing in the early medieval period around the 5th to 7th centuries AD. It is derived from the Old Irish word "brenn," meaning "prince" or "noble." The name was likely a compound of this word and a suffix like "-an" or "-án," which was used to form personal names.
One of the earliest and most famous bearers of this name was Saint Brendan the Navigator, an Irish monk born around 484 AD. He is renowned for his legendary voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, as recounted in the medieval text "Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis" (The Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot). This text, which dates back to the 9th century, describes Brendan's journey to the "Promised Land of the Saints," which some scholars believe may have been a reference to North America.
Another notable figure named Brendan was Brendan of Clonfert, an Irish monastic saint who lived in the 6th century AD. He founded the famous Clonfert Monastery in County Galway, Ireland, and is venerated as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland for his missionary work.
In the 9th century, Brendan of Birr, also known as Brendan the Elder or Brendan the Navigator, was an Irish abbot and monastic founder. He is credited with establishing the monastery of Birr in County Offaly, Ireland, and is associated with several legends and miracles.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, Brendan O'Rourke (c. 1490–1562) was an Irish chieftain and Lord of West Breifne, a territory spanning parts of modern-day counties Cavan and Leitrim in Ireland. He played a significant role in the political and military conflicts of his time, particularly in his resistance against the English Tudor conquest of Ireland.
In the 20th century, Brendan Behan (1923–1964) was a renowned Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his autobiographical works, including "Borstal Boy" and "The Quare Fellow," which shed light on the harsh realities of prison life and the Irish Republican movement.
People
Brandan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brandan 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
Brandan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brandan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,578 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brandan 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 61,448 US residents.
Is Brandan a common name?
We classify Brandan as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,766 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brandan most popular?
The single biggest year for Brandan was 1993, when 263 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brandan is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brandan a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Brandan 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.