How to say it
BRAN · don
/ˈbræn.dən/
Masculine
Brandon
Broom-covered hill
What it means
An English place and surname name, 'hill covered with broom,' often blended with the Irish saint's name Brendan.
Brandon is an English place-name surname meaning a hill grown over with broom, the yellow-flowered shrub. Over time it merged in many families with the Irish Breandán (Brendan), the seafaring saint's name. It was everywhere in the US from the late 1970s through the 1990s, a defining name of that generation. Branden is the main variant; it overlaps in sound with Brendan and Braden.
Popularity over time
peaked at #6 in 1992, currently #261 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Spelling
Brandon, Branden, and Brendan sit close together; Brandon is the broom-hill place name, Brendan the Irish saint.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Brandon Lee actor and son of Bruce Lee
- Brandon a defining boys' name of the 1980s and 1990s US charts
Spelling variants
- Branden
- Brandyn
- Brendon
Names with the same feeling
See Brandon from another angle
By style