Find out how popular the last name Brand is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Brand.

Brand, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Brand surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brand in America

Brand is the 1879th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brand surname appeared 19,135 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Brand.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brand to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Brand

The surname Brand is of German origin, derived from the Old High German word "brant," meaning "to burn" or "fire." It is believed to have originated in the early medieval period, around the 8th or 9th century.

The earliest known references to the name can be found in various German records and documents from the Middle Ages. One notable example is the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval charters and deeds, which mentions individuals with the surname Brand as early as the 11th century.

The name Brand was likely initially used as a descriptive surname, given to individuals who worked with fire or lived near a burned area. It may have also been associated with certain occupations, such as blacksmiths or charcoal burners.

In the 13th century, the surname Brand appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that individuals with this surname had migrated from Germany to England during the Norman Conquest.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Brand was Johann Brand (c. 1437-1512), a German theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation. Another notable figure was Sebastian Brand (c. 1458-1520), a German satirist and humanist writer best known for his satirical work, Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools).

In the 16th century, the Brand family established itself in the Netherlands, with notable members including Geeraert Brand (c. 1542-1581), a Dutch Renaissance painter, and Hendrick Brand (1630-1683), a Dutch chemist and physician who discovered phosphorus.

The surname Brand has also been associated with various place names in Germany and the Netherlands, such as Brandenberg, Brandenburger, and Brandsma, which may have contributed to the spread and variation of the name.

Other notable individuals with the surname Brand throughout history include Sir Johannes Brand (1590-1668), a Dutch colonial governor of Suriname, and John Brand (1744-1806), an English antiquary and writer best known for his work, Observations on Popular Antiquities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brand

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Brand.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Brand was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Brand has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Brand was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Brand, please contact us.

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