boys' name ★ peaked 1992

Brandon

Gender Boy · 1% girls Rank 2025 #261 Trend ↓ Falling 42%

Brandon is a masculine given name representing a transferred use of the English surname Brandon.

Rank 2025
#261
among boys · ↓31 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
1,326
named Brandon · -15% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,288
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1992
29,724 babies
All-time total
774,654
#44 all-time among boys
First recorded
1914
in Social Security records

Brandon popularity over time

774,654 babies have been named Brandon since 1914, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
510152018801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – 74 74 7 – #1,861
1920s – 125 125 13 +69% #1,920
1930s – 86 86 9 -31% #2,073
1940s – 192 192 19 +123% #1,086
1950s 32 1,175 1,207 121 +529% #572
1960s 93 4,276 4,369 437 +262% #216
1970s 791 65,047 65,838 6,584 +1407% #35
1980s 2,099 232,206 234,305 23,431 +256% #13
1990s 760 259,420 260,180 26,018 +11% #6
2000s 289 143,003 143,292 14,329 -45% #12
2010s 81 54,128 54,209 5,421 -62% #44
2020s (to 2025) – 10,777 10,777 1,796 -67% #165

Where Brandon is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 1,206 0.71 #283
2027 1,112 0.65 #307
2028 1,038 0.61 #328
2029 979 0.57 #339
2030 931 0.55 #355

Where Brandon is most popular

Boys named Brandon per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.980 per 1,000. Strongest in Mississippi, Delaware, and Alabama.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Brandon born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Mississippi 108 1.90 +94%
Delaware 28 1.85 +88%
Alabama 197 1.80 +84%
Louisiana 180 1.76 +80%
Georgia 375 1.48 +51%
Maryland 176 1.48 +51%
South Carolina 148 1.43 +46%
Arkansas 86 1.36 +39%
Florida 635 1.34 +37%
Tennessee 235 1.30 +33%
Nevada 74 1.30 +32%
New Mexico 42 1.27 +30%
Texas 1,116 1.27 +29%
California 1,154 1.26 +29%
New Jersey 247 1.23 +25%
New York 509 1.18 +20%
North Carolina 300 1.17 +20%
Virginia 219 1.15 +18%
Ohio 300 1.13 +15%
Kentucky 110 1.10 +12%
West Virginia 35 1.07 +9%
Oklahoma 92 1.04 +6%
Michigan 213 1.04 +6%
Arizona 169 1.03 +5%
Missouri 141 1.02 ≈ national
Alaska 12 1.01 ≈ national
Illinois 250 0.978 ≈ national
Connecticut 65 0.960 ≈ national
Indiana 151 0.942 ≈ national
Kansas 59 0.860 -12%
Washington 138 0.844 -14%
Hawaii 13 0.837 -15%
District of Columbia 12 0.813 -17%
Pennsylvania 205 0.772 -21%
South Dakota 14 0.752 -23%
Wisconsin 89 0.751 -23%
Colorado 96 0.744 -24%
Massachusetts 99 0.720 -27%
Idaho 29 0.709 -28%
Nebraska 29 0.667 -32%
Oregon 49 0.646 -34%
Iowa 40 0.580 -41%
Utah 54 0.566 -42%
Minnesota 66 0.538 -45%
Maine – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
New Hampshire – – –
Rhode Island – – –
Vermont – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Brandon

Brandon is moderately common for boys in the United States, ranked #261 in 2025 with 1,326 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1914, 774,654 American babies have been named Brandon. Its peak came in 1992, when 29,724 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1990s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Brandon stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Brandon?

The median living Brandon is about 32 years old; half are between 25 and 40. An estimated 748 thousand people named Brandon are alive in the United States today.

median 32 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Brandon year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 – – 1,326 #261
2024 – – 1,562 #230
2023 – – 1,665 #219
2022 – – 1,777 #210
2021 – – 2,135 #181
2020 – – 2,312 #165
2019 6 #14,117 2,686 #141
2018 6 #14,083 3,214 #124
2017 8 #11,833 3,497 #114
2016 – – 4,101 #99
2015 8 #12,022 5,128 #83
2014 – – 5,856 #71
2013 8 #12,180 6,235 #70
2012 15 #7,880 7,041 #56
2011 16 #7,494 7,821 #47
2010 14 #8,338 8,549 #44
2009 11 #10,089 9,848 #38
2008 14 #8,599 11,482 #33
2007 13 #9,101 12,148 #31
2006 23 #5,742 12,686 #27
2005 30 #4,501 12,947 #27
2004 59 #2,750 14,135 #22
2003 25 #4,964 15,245 #21
2002 32 #3,989 16,282 #20
2001 40 #3,377 17,893 #18
2000 42 #3,221 20,337 #12
1995 86 #1,705 26,904 #8
1990 85 #1,717 22,163 #19
1985 273 #662 29,304 #13
1980 136 #1,050 14,161 #31
1975 97 #1,192 7,090 #44
1970 37 #2,168 2,544 #131
1965 7 #5,337 395 #394
1960 – – 185 #575
1955 8 #4,403 104 #716
1950 – – 54 #936
1945 – – 10 #2,264
1940 – – 10 #2,341
1935 – – 9 #2,548
1930 – – 12 #2,315
1925 – – 9 #2,956
1920 – – 9 #2,987
1915 – – 12 #2,200
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Brandon

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Brandon Lee Brandon Lee American actor and martial artist (1965–1993) Contemporary
  2. 2 Brandon Sanderson Brandon Sanderson American fiction writer (born 1975) Contemporary
  3. 3 Brandon Routh Brandon Routh American actor (born 1979) Contemporary
  4. 4 Brandon Ingram Brandon Ingram American basketball player (born 1997) Contemporary
  5. 5 Brandon Teena Brandon Teena American murder victim (1972–1993) Contemporary
  6. 6 Brandon Flynn Brandon Flynn American actor (born 1993) Contemporary
  7. 7 Brandon T. Jackson Brandon T. Jackson American actor and comedian (born 1984) Contemporary
  8. 8 Brandon Williams Brandon Williams English footballer (born 2000) Contemporary
  9. 9 Brandon Boyd Brandon Boyd American singer (born 1976) Contemporary
  10. 10 Brandon deWilde Brandon deWilde American theater, film, television actor (1942–1972) Contemporary
  11. 11 Brandon Jennings Brandon Jennings American basketball player (born 1989) Contemporary
  12. 12 Brandon Roy Brandon Roy American basketball player and coach (born 1984) Contemporary
  13. 13 Brandon Call American actor b. 1976 · Contemporary
  14. 14 Brandon Mychal Smith Brandon Mychal Smith American actor and singer (born 1989) Contemporary
  15. 15 Brandon Knight Brandon Knight American basketball player (born 1991) Contemporary
  16. 16 Brandon Mechele Brandon Mechele Belgian footballer (born 1993) Contemporary
  17. 17 Brandon Saad Brandon Saad American ice hockey player (born 1992) Contemporary
  18. 18 Brandon McNulty Brandon McNulty American cyclist (born 1998) Contemporary
  19. 19 Brandon Jones American actor, musician, and producer (born 1988) Contemporary
  20. 20 Brandon Bass Brandon Bass American basketball player (born 1985) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Brandon, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Brandon?

The median living Brandon is about 32 years old. Half of all living Brandons are between 25 and 40 years old.

How many people named Brandon are alive today?

An estimated 748 thousand people named Brandon are alive in the United States, based on 774,654 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Brandon mean?

Brandon is a masculine given name representing a transferred use of the English surname Brandon.

How popular is the name Brandon in 2025?

Brandon ranked #261 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 1,326 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Brandon?

774,654 babies have been named Brandon in the United States since 1914, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Brandon most popular?

Brandon peaked in 1992, when 29,724 newborns received the name.

Is Brandon a boy or girl name?

Brandon is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Brandon rising or falling?

Brandon is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Brandon become more popular?

Brandon is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 931 boys named Brandon in 2030, which would rank around #355. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Brandon?

Well-known people named Brandon include Brandon Lee (actor), Brandon Sanderson (writer), Brandon Routh (actor).

Names like Brandon

Names that sound and feel close to Brandon: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Brandon with similar names → More names starting with B →