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[Opinions] Brendan or Brandon?
I was just wondering. I love my name, it's awesome to grow up with, and it's just uncommon enough that you only run into a few. Plus, it's Irish, I'm Irish American, nice little tie-in there.
I dislike Brandon though. Not because of the sound (though I like Brendan better sound wise too, all sentimentality aside), but because it's soooo Beverly Hills 90210, so 90's posh/hip/popular/pseudo-cool. Plus, I know a few Brandons, and in my school, they're known as Bran Muffin 1, Bran Muffin 2, etc. (they call me the Irish one)
I figure that could get annoying. What are your thoughts? I won't get offended, promise.
Viva Brendan! (Cornelius Foehr)

This message was edited 5/8/2007, 6:19 PM

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I don't actually like Brendan or Brandon. But...if I HAD to pick I would pick Brandon. Thanks
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Love Brendan. It has history and what little kid wouldn't like to get read to sleep at night to tales of Saint Brendan the Navigator? Hate Brandon. Smarmy, plastic trendoid. A throw-away name for a throw-away society. Ick.

This message was edited 5/9/2007, 9:32 AM

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BrandonBrandon is my preference. I have a lot of good associations with Brandon, which helps it, and I think I overall prefer the 'an' to the 'en' sound. Sometimes my mind jumps from Brendan to Brenda, too, and I think Brenda is an irredeemably ugly name. If I could deviate a bit from the two names and go off on things with a similar sound, I'd say that I prefer Bran above the both of them.
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Brendan, no question. Brandon is so 90s trendy, and to me it sounds like it's got its vowels muddled up (because I'm more used to Brendan).

This message was edited 5/9/2007, 5:50 AM

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Brendan definitely has it all over Brandon, imo.
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I much prefer Brendan to Brandon(so 90s, so trendy). Brendan was my grandfather's middle name. I like Breandán the Irish form of Brendan.
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I prefer the look of Brendan. It just looks nicer somehow :)
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Brandon.I don't know, It just sounds so much better than Brendan.
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Definitely Brendan.
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ditto
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I always got the two names confused when I was little (surprising - maybe I wasn't just a little namenerd =P). I have a cousin named Brandon and when I was getting a nextdoor neighbor named Brendan, I always thought he was gonna be my cousin.Now though, I definitely prefer Brendan.
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I prefer Brendan, although truly both are NMS.:)Danielle
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Sorry, but I don't like either. I agree with you on the 90s popular kid thing, but for both names. I've only known one Brandon - my bf's aunt's boyfriend, and he's in his 30's and works on cars and makes lots of good jokes, not preppy at all.
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Brendan.Sounds better, looks better, in my opinion.Plus, I know a really annoying kid named Brandon that I went to Hebrew School with for a bunch of years.Actually, I'd probably use Brennan instead of either of those.
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I like both, personally. I couldn't choose between the two! But first, I must say, I was partial to Brandon, but Brendan has moved up on my favorites to where they're tied.
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I agree, Brendan is so much nicer. I like the fact that it means Prince and also like the Irish connection, since my DH has some Irish in his heritage and we have an Irish surname. Brandon is very 90210 and screams "American footballer" to me! That said, I don't think Brandon is terrible though.
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Definitely Brendan
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I definitley like Brendan much better, although I would never use it myself. It is too soft sounding for my style, but it is very handsome and the story of St Brendan is probably my favourite of all the Saint stories.
Brandon is overused, trendy, yuppie and just one of those names that always makes me want to roll my eyes. If someone uses it here (in Australia), I usually think "how American" or 90210. Brandon isn't that common here really, except among the yuppies and most of the Brandon's here are around 4 or 5, so the children of ex-90210 fans. Brendan is more common.
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I like both. I prefer the meaning and look of Brendan, but I have good associations with Brandon. Brandon was terribly popular here in the U.S. in the 90's, which makes it sound a bit dated, but still nice to me. I think if I had to pick, I'd say Brendan, simply because of the history.
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Brendan, always.
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I don't particularly care for either name. They're not different enough for me to prefer one over the other. I've known about a zillion Brandons, one of which is my brother (Brandon Anthony) and another of which is one of my close friends (Brandon Joshua). None of them have ever been called "Bran," though my mom used to call my brother "Branny."
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I haven't ever really liked either. Brandon is fanfarey and obnoxious, and Brendan sounds brisk and dismissive and trendy. I think the fact that it actually sounds like the word "trendy" helps my opinion of this. The Brendan I know is smart, and the Brandon I know is very, very dumb, so I prefer Brendan.
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Brendan is nice, but I prefer Brandon. I'm not familiar with 90210 at all. Maybe it's based on the Brendans and Brandons I've known, or just on the -an- vs the -en- sound ... the name Brandon seems a little bit more outgoing, friendly, and manly than Brendan (not counting you here -- I don't know you well enough). I could see how you might be turned off Brandon if it's really common on your peers, though.
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I personally like Brandon better. My best friend's name is Brandon Michael Jonah. Nope, he does not go by Bran; just Brandon! Sorry. Brendon just sounds like a British pronunciation of Brandon. Brennan would be much better.
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In Britain..... Brandon is very popular, Brendan is never used.
I prefer Brendan :) my fear is, people would confuse it with trendy cockney Brandon.
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If YOU like Brendan more, you should go with it, but personally I think Brandon is much better. Maybe it's because Brandon is my nephew's middle name.
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