Meaning and history
Brenda is the feminine form of Old Norse Brandr, meaning "fire," "torch" or "sword," which reached Britain in the Middle Ages, and is also sometimes treated as a feminine Brendan. Walter Scott used it in The Pirate (1821), but it became common only in the 20th century, first in Britain and then rapidly in 1930s America, possibly helped by socialite Brenda Frazier (1921–1982).
20062006: 1,419 births, rank #240
2007: 1,232 births, rank #280
2008: 968 births, rank #343
2009: 780 births, rank #406
2010: 735 births, rank #426
20112011: 546 births, rank #532
2012: 561 births, rank #538
2013: 439 births, rank #643
2014: 384 births, rank #729
2015: 349 births, rank #805
20162016: 340 births, rank #840
2017: 294 births, rank #910
2018: 258 births, rank #1,007
2019: 236 births, rank #1,069
2020: 180 births, rank #1,261
20212021: 198 births, rank #1,207
2022: 189 births, rank #1,269
2023: 177 births, rank #1,292
2024: 212 births, rank #1,140
20252025: 139 births, rank #1,525
Brenda moved from #841 to #911 for girls between 2016 and 2017. Its highest annual birth count came in 1957, with 24,339 births.