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

Brandes, 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 Brandes surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brandes in America

Brandes is the 10302nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brandes surname appeared 3,127 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Brandes.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brandes 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 Brandes

The surname Brandes has its origins in the Low German and Dutch languages. It is derived from the Middle Low German word "brand," which means "a burning or fire." The name likely originated in the northern regions of Germany and the Netherlands during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brandes can be found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical documents from the city of Bremen, dating back to the 13th century. This suggests that the name may have originated in the area around Bremen, which was part of the Hanseatic League, a powerful trading confederation in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages.

The name Brandes is also closely associated with the German word "Brandstätte," which means "a place where a fire has occurred." This connection implies that the name may have been given to individuals who lived in areas that had been affected by fires or worked in professions related to fire, such as blacksmiths or charcoal makers.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Brandes was Johannes Brandes, a German philosopher and writer who lived from 1516 to 1588. He was a prominent figure during the Protestant Reformation and wrote several works on theology and philosophy.

Another notable figure with the surname Brandes was Georg Brandes, a Danish literary critic and scholar who lived from 1842 to 1927. He was a influential figure in the Scandinavian literary world and played a significant role in introducing modern European literature to Denmark.

In the Netherlands, the name Brandes was associated with the town of Brandes, which is now part of the municipality of Steenwijkerland in the province of Overijssel. This suggests that the name may have originated in this region and been adopted by families living in or near the town.

Other notable individuals with the surname Brandes include:

1. Gustav Brandes, a German-born American writer and journalist who lived from 1859 to 1945.
2. Wilhelm Brandes, a German astronomer who lived from 1854 to 1928 and discovered several asteroids.
3. Edvard Brandes, a Danish writer and literary critic who lived from 1847 to 1931.
4. Hans Brandes, a German-born American artist and illustrator who lived from 1906 to 1980.
5. Carl Brandes, a German classical scholar and philologist who lived from 1819 to 1887.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brandes

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

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 Brandes 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 Brandes 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 Brandes was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!