Message: "Brandy" - Behind the Name

Brandy

by Lily (Destry)

9/9/2011, 7:33 AM

I don't like Brandy nor Brandi, Brandee or anything else but I would like to understand why it was popular in the 80s. I mean the liquor existed didn't it? It just seems so weird to me that this became such a common given name.

I mean I thought it had at least a different meaning in some language or something but it really just means burnt wine.

I don't know but when I met the first Brandy I really couldn't believe it was actually her name. What do you think?

#Brandy

This message was edited 9/9/2011, 7:37 AM

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- Fiammetta (lady murasaki) +1

9/10/2011, 4:04 AM

I don't like it. It's very stripperish, and it feels like naming your child "Wine" or "Cognac".
I've never met one IRL.

- abbasdaughter

9/12/2011, 7:38 AM

Maybe it's more of a North American thing... I think all the Brandys I've met have either been Cdn or Am'n... like the double Brandy on the rocks story mentioned below

- Alcyone

9/9/2011, 10:14 PM

I find it tacky. Unfortunately, a lot of people name their daughters without much thought. I guess they think, "Oh that's cute!", but the fact that their daughters are going to grow up and have to live with it isn't registering. I'd say that it became popular because it was similar to other trendy names of the time, such as Mandy and Brandon.

Good thing Chardonnay and Champagne didn't catch on like Brandy. I have heard of them used as names, though.

I really dislike Candy as well. I don't understand that one either.

This message was edited 9/9/2011, 10:17 PM

- ninjato +1

9/9/2011, 12:38 PM

I hate it... A Brandy kicked my in the shins... I get images of some drunk... who steals cars for meth money.

- Lily (Destry)

9/9/2011, 4:29 PM

lol I get what you mean. I have a similar image in my head when I hear it.

- kudriashkajo (jodirae) +1

9/9/2011, 10:17 AM

It surprised me too, when I met a real-life Brandi. I just don't see the appeal of it as a name. Crazy parents of the 80s.

- Lily (Destry)

9/9/2011, 4:29 PM

Yeah, it's hard to understand. I mean sure it combined several trends at the time, but I never thought enough people would use it so it could rise as high as it did. It really surprises me.

- sambchop +3

9/9/2011, 9:30 AM

I also think that Brandy became popular because of the popularity of Mandy, Sandy, Randy etc. I guess some people might see it as a feminine form of Brandon. Maybe.

I know a Brandi. I've always thought her name was silly, and it doesn't help that she's such an unpleasant person. I guess some people just don't care. I also know girls named Champagne, Chardonnay, and Tequila. Personally, I don't see the appeal.

- Lily (Destry)

9/9/2011, 4:24 PM

Oh you might be right. The -andy trend still continued in the 80s (even though then Mandy was mainly short for Amanda) and at the time not only Brandon but lots of Br-names became common such as Brianna, Brooke and Brittany. Maybe these two things came together.

Still I don't get it, I mean it's liquor. It might have sounded attractive at the time but it's not only a brand name but really a name for that kind of alcohol. Oh well. :P

- Amphelise (Chrisell) +1

9/9/2011, 10:17 AM

Brandon...

I wanted to link it to Brandon too, but looked at the wrong set of popularity stats and thought the timing was out. But you're right, its rise mimics that of Brandon so I'll bet it's been used as a feminine form.

- abbasdaughter

9/12/2011, 7:41 AM

I dunno... I think of Brandy as more of a 70s and 80s infliction and Brandon as more of an 80s and 90s infliction... Not a fan of either... as you can possibly tell... Brandon seemed to become stronger after Brandy than before, so I wouldn't blame Brandon for Brandy's popularity. Brendan is even less attractive to me than Brandon is.

Kinda funny random side note... Was just thinking what well-known tv show character named Brandy was on the scene back in the mid-80s when Brandon was growing in popularity... Know who it was? Punky Brewster's dog. :-P

This message was edited 9/12/2011, 7:57 AM

- Amphelise (Chrisell) +2

9/9/2011, 8:12 AM

It might be a rhyming thing. Mandy, Sandy, Candy and Randy all had peaks for girls in the US in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Brandy might simply have been a word-name that rode the trend.

- Lily (Destry) +1

9/9/2011, 4:26 PM

Yeah, I guess it was the combination of the -andy and the Br-trend (Brooke, Brittany, Brianna). Still it's so weird because it's alcohol.

- abbasdaughter

9/12/2011, 7:53 AM

Thing is I've NEVER met a Brandy born after the mid-80s and never met a Brianna born before that (oldest Brianna I can think of was born in 95... AFTER the youngest Brandy I can think of would have been born)... Brittany wasn't that common before Brandy and neither was Brooke (the last of which I think I've met a total of 2) in Canada though it seems to have hit a bit of a wave in the States in the early 80s before the latter, longer wave (was Brooke Shields popular at that time? I don't remember because I didn't really care)... Brandy seems to have preceded these in the Br trend. Brittany was more of a late 80s and early 90s trend. Guess Brianna came up out of nowhere in the mid-70s, built up some steam in the 80s and hit it big in the 90s. Brandy definitely had its spike in the 70s and early 80s... so the other Br names followed Brandy. Glad my parents didn't think I should be named after booze.

- abbasdaughter +2

9/9/2011, 7:43 AM

I have no idea why it was kinda trendy in the late 70s and 80s... One camp I was at had 2 gals named Brandy there, so we got a pic of them sitting on and among a bunch of rocks and entitled it "Double Brandy on the Rocks"... If people are going to be lumped w/ a name like that, may as well have some fun w/ it... think I have about 3 or 4 of them on my fb list.

- Lily (Destry) +1

9/9/2011, 4:27 PM

Hahahaha that's really funny, a great idea :) I'll never understand how it became so common. I mean it fit in with the -andy and Br-trend at the time, actually it perfectly combined both trends. Still it's alcohol. I mean I would've understood a few parents not really caring about that but so many that it was in the top 50s and even higher when you combine the spelling variants? Wow.

- abbasdaughter

9/10/2011, 1:26 AM

Dunno... once met a Martini who's even older than I am... Same mindset.

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