Brandie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Branda, itself a short form of Brandon.
Name Census estimates that about 14,807 living Americans carry the first name Brandie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Brandie today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brandie births was 1982 (834 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brandie. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Brandie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 23,148 Americans
Peak year
1982
834 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1987 SSA rank
#5,531
Tracked since 1956
Census
Brandie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,733 people with the first name Brandie, which placed it at #2,108 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,108
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,733 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brandie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brandie is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Brandie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Brandie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.5% · 9,481
- Black or African American11.6% · 1,478
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 930
- Two or more races5.0% · 632
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 127
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 85
Gender
Gender distribution for Brandie
Out of the 15,867 babies given the name Brandie since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Brandie as a male name
- Ranked #5,531 in 1987
- 7 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1975 (10 births)
Brandie as a female name
- Ranked #12,345 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1982 (834 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brandie appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,730 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Brandie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brandie from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 6,493 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
Brandie 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 Brandie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brandies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Brandie, while Wyoming, South Dakota, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 285 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brandie
The name Brandie is a feminine form of the French name Brandi, which is derived from the Old German word "brant," meaning "firebrand" or "sword." It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who carried a sword or lived near a place where swords were made.
In the Middle Ages, the name Brandie was relatively uncommon, with few recorded instances. However, it gained popularity during the Renaissance period, particularly in France and England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Brandie de Montfort, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Brandie became more widespread, particularly among the English aristocracy. One notable figure was Brandie Howard, a courtier and confidante of Queen Elizabeth I, who lived from 1560 to 1630.
In the 18th century, the name Brandie was associated with a romanticized image of the dashing, swashbuckling swordsman. This association was likely influenced by the popularity of literary works featuring such characters, such as "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas.
One of the most famous bearers of the name Brandie was Brandie Jones, a Welsh pirate and adventurer who lived from 1683 to 1743. She gained notoriety for her daring exploits on the high seas and her reputation as a skilled swordswoman.
Another notable figure was Brandie Cartwright, an English novelist and playwright who lived from 1710 to 1778. Her works often featured strong, independent female characters, challenging societal norms of the time.
In the 19th century, the name Brandie became more common among the upper classes in both Europe and the United States. One notable American bearer of the name was Brandie Buchanan, a suffragette and women's rights activist who lived from 1838 to 1912.
As the centuries passed, the name Brandie continued to evolve and take on new meanings and associations. However, its roots in the Old German word "brant" and its connection to swords and fire remain a part of its rich historical legacy.
People
Brandie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brandie 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
Brandie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brandie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,807 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brandie 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 23,148 US residents.
Is Brandie a common name?
We classify Brandie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,867 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brandie most popular?
The single biggest year for Brandie was 1982, when 834 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brandie is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Brandie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,733 people with the name Brandie, or 4.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,108 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Brandie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Brandie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Brandie appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,730 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Brandie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Brandie is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Brandie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Brandie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (9,481 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Brandie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Brandie a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Brandie in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Brandie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Brandie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Brandie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Brandie?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Brandie at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.