Given name & surname
Brannigan
“descendant of Branagán”
Brannigan is a surname from Irish.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Brannigan goes back to Irish Ó Branagáin, meaning “descendant of Branagán.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Irish Ó Branagáin (“descendant of Branagán”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1976. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Brannigan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 28
- 21 boys · 7 girls
- Most popular year
- 1985
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 6 in 2004. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 134 as a first name in 2020; 1,475 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Brannigan’s family of names
In English usage, Brannigan as a surname has a related form in BRANAGAN. In English usage, Brannigan as a surname has a related form in BRANAGAN.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Brannigan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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