By Sound
Brandon (BRAN-don) is two syllables — the BR/BAN opener and the -don ending. The BR cluster simplifies to B in Mandarin; -don maps to -deng or -dan.
By Meaning
Old English 'brom' (gorse) + 'dun' (hill) — from the broom hill. The gorse is a tough, resilient plant that thrives where others don't.
By Spirit
Brandon Lee's magnetic intensity that pulled every room toward him, Brandon Sanderson's world-building ambition that creates entire universes. Throughline: builds things that endure, intensity that pulls you in, more depth than first appears.