Brendan

Where Brendan comes from

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.
— Wiktionary's entry for Brendan
  • Irish
Brendan through the years
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #1,746 among boys with 9 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1955
    Brendan Gleeson born
    Irish actor
  3. 1968
    Brendan Fraser born
    Canadian-American actor
  4. 1999
    Peak, #96
    3,995 babies named Brendan, the most in any year.
  5. 2007
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #205.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Irish.
Namesakes
  • Brendan Fraser · Canadian-American actor, born 1968
  • Brendan Gleeson · Irish actor, born 1955
  • Brendan Rodgers · Northern Irish association football manager, born 1973
  • Brendan Behan · Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright, 1923–1964
  • Brendan the Navigator · Irish monastic saint, 486–577

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.