2000
#1,751
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,750
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.95
Uncommon Last name
Brand
An occupational surname referring to a person who burned wood to make charcoal or who branded cattle.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 21,088 Americans carry the last name Brand. That puts it at #1,918 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 6.15 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 16,254 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Brand surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Brand with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
21K
1 in 16,254
Census rank
#1,918
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
6.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
18K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 18,390 bearers of the surname Brand in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 6.15 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1918th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Brand, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (5.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brand
Among Census respondents with the surname Brand, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (5.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Brand bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Brand surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 14,804
- Black or African American9.3% · 1,714
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 1,032
- Two or more races3.5% · 644
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 120
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 76
Timeline
Historical Census data for Brand
Brand appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,879
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 19,135
+385 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 6.49
Rank movement Down 128 places
2020
#1,918
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,390
-745 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 6.15
Rank movement Down 39 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,751 | 18,750 | 6.95 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,879 | 19,135 | 6.49 | +385 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 128 places |
| 2020 | #1,918 | 18,390 | 6.15 | -745 bearers (-3.9%) | Down 39 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Brand surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,879 | #1,918 | -2.1% |
| Count | 19,135 | 18,390 | -3.9% |
| Per 100K | 6.49 | 6.15 | -5.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Brand bearers went from 19,135 to 18,390 (-3.9% change). The surname moved down 39 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,879 to #1,918.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Brand
FAQ
Brand surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Brand?
Name Census estimates that about 21,088 living Americans carry the surname Brand. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 16,254 residents.
How common is Brand?
Brand ranks #1,918 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 6.15 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 18,390 people with the surname Brand. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (21,088), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 6.15 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 6.15 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Brand.
Has Brand become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Brand went from 19,135 recorded bearers to 18,390. That is a decrease of 745 (-3.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,879 to #1,918.
What does the Census say about the background of Brand?
Among Census respondents with the surname Brand, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (5.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Brand in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (14,804 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Brand appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.5%), Black (9.3%), Hispanic (5.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Brand (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Brand mean?
An occupational surname referring to a person who burned wood to make charcoal or who branded cattle. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Brand (6.15 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Brand?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Brand on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.