Anderson
Meaning
surname, "son of Andrew"; Brazil turned it into a first name and made it a defining boy name of the 1980s and 90s
The story
Anderson is a Scottish and Scandinavian surname, "son of Andrew," and in the English-speaking world it mostly stayed a surname. Brazil had other plans. Beginning in the 1970s and exploding through the 1980s, Brazilian parents adopted English surnames as first names with an enthusiasm the names' home countries never showed, and Anderson led the movement: Brazil's 2010 census counted more than 473,000 of them, ahead of even Jessica and Vanessa. The wave changed Brazilian naming permanently, because alongside the borrowed Andersons came home-grown inventions like Adilson and Wanderson, built on the same "-son" ending by parents who simply liked the pattern. In the US, meanwhile, Anderson stayed rare as a first name until cable news gave it a familiar face. One name, two hemispheres, opposite lives.
Anderson around the world
One shared root links 9 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Greek Andreas, tied to andros "man, manly"; the apostle's name in a dozen national dresses
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Anderson peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Popularity in Brazil
445,547 people · the #56 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 456 · median age 33
Among people named Anderson living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 4,157 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Anderson
Most people given the name Anderson in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Anderson deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Anderson truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Anderson fits with your family’s names and surname.
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