Brendan

Boy name

Brendan has been given to 92,141 babies in the U.S. since 1912. It peaked in 1999.

Meaning & origin

Anglicized form of the name of Irish saints, Irish Bréanainn (via Latin Brendanus), from Old Irish Brénainn, from Old Welsh breenhin (“prince, king”), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *brigantīnos (“(someone) preeminent, outstanding”), a diminutive of *brigantī (“high, exalted”). Doublet of Brian.

Origin: Irish

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

92,141

Peak year

1999 (4,005 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1912

10-year trend

▼ -76%

Gender split

0% girls / 100% boys

Famous people named Brendan

Brendan Fraser

Canadian-American actor (born 1968)

Brendan Gleeson

Irish actor

Brendan Rodgers

Northern Irish association football manager

Brendan Behan

Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright (1923-1964)

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Brendan.

92,976 babies since 1914

94,582 babies since 1880

95,492 babies since 1880

88,524 babies since 1904

88,085 babies since 1880

86,142 babies since 1881

100,166 babies since 1913

101,764 babies since 1882

Get new name insights first

Occasional updates when we add new data & tools. No spam, unsubscribe anytime by replying to any email or writing to hello@zalize.com.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. We store only your email address and the date you signed up.