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

Brandt, 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 Brandt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brandt in America

Brandt is the 948th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brandt surname appeared 36,613 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 12 people would have the surname Brandt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brandt 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 Brandt

The surname Brandt is of German origin, derived from the Old German word "brant," meaning "fire" or "burning." It initially referred to someone who lived near a burned-out area or someone who worked with fire, such as a charcoal burner or a blacksmith.

The name first appeared in medieval records in various regions of Germany, including Saxony, Hesse, and Bavaria, as early as the 12th century. One of the earliest recorded instances is in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from Brandenburg, where a person named "Heinricus Brant" is mentioned in 1204.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name was often spelled variations like "Brant," "Brante," or "Branden." It was also sometimes combined with place names, such as "Brandenberg" or "Brandenburgh," referring to places where people with this surname lived or worked.

Notable individuals with the surname Brandt throughout history include Sebastian Brandt (1457-1521), a German satirist and scholar best known for his work "Das Narrenschiff" (The Ship of Fools). Another famous bearer of the name was the German philosopher and writer Thomas Brandt (1655-1728), known for his works on ethics and natural law.

In the 19th century, Willy Brandt (1913-1992) was a prominent German statesman who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his efforts in achieving reconciliation between West Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe.

Other notable individuals with the surname Brandt include the American actress Marlon Brando (1924-2004), whose original surname was "Brandt," and the American photographer Bill Brandt (1904-1983), known for his striking black-and-white photographs of the British society.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brandt

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

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

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

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