# Brennan (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/brennan/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | “descendant of braonán”, “moisture”, “drop”, “descendant of branán”, “raven” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Branon |
| US babies named this | 35,487 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 33,258 / 2,229 (6% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 542, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Irish Ó Braonáin (“descendant of Braonán”), a diminutive of braon (“moisture, drop”). Alternatively, from Irish Ó Branáin (“descendant of Branán”), a diminutive of bran (“raven”).

## What it means

Brennan is grouped under bird.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 87 | 2,175 |
| 2012 | 73 | 2,499 |
| 2013 | 66 | 2,665 |
| 2014 | 57 | 2,973 |
| 2015 | 40 | 3,783 |
| 2016 | 35 | 4,176 |
| 2017 | 44 | 3,493 |
| 2018 | 30 | 4,578 |
| 2019 | 32 | 4,359 |
| 2020 | 32 | 4,282 |
| 2021 | 30 | 4,528 |
| 2022 | 26 | 5,045 |
| 2023 | 16 | 6,987 |
| 2024 | 19 | 6,212 |
| 2025 | 10 | 9,557 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,177 | 293 |
| 2012 | 1,011 | 318 |
| 2013 | 927 | 345 |
| 2014 | 806 | 387 |
| 2015 | 690 | 444 |
| 2016 | 549 | 534 |
| 2017 | 464 | 585 |
| 2018 | 382 | 661 |
| 2019 | 340 | 719 |
| 2020 | 315 | 764 |
| 2021 | 265 | 872 |
| 2022 | 224 | 995 |
| 2023 | 213 | 1,025 |
| 2024 | 207 | 1,057 |
| 2025 | 226 | 1,003 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 18 | 1,342 |
| 2012 | 22 | 1,191 |
| 2013 | 20 | 1,247 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,079 |
| 2015 | 13 | 1,786 |
| 2016 | 13 | 1,804 |
| 2017 | 6 | 3,040 |
| 2018 | 9 | 2,259 |
| 2019 | 9 | 2,266 |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,404 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2023 | 6 | 3,112 |
| 2024 | 7 | 2,921 |
| 2025 | 8 | 2,664 |

## People named Brennan

- Brennan Brown, American stage, film, and television actor
- Brennan Heart, Dutch DJ and hardstyle producer
- Brennan Elliott, actor
- Brennan Mejia, actor
- Brennan Othmann, Canadian ice hockey player
- Kiernan Shipka, American actress (born 1999)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.