Brandes (German: Burns) is a German surname and Jewish surname, and may refer to:
- Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes (died 2001), German cannibalism victim
- Charles Brandes, American money manager
- David Brandes (born 1968), German musician
- Edsel Brandes (born 1979), U.S. Merchant Marine
- Eddo Brandes, cricketer from Zimbabwe
- Edvard Brandes (1847–1931), Danish Cultural politician and editor and co-founder of the newspaper Politiken, brother of George Brandes
- Ernst Brandes (1758–1810), German lawyer
- Ernst Immanuel Cohen Brandes (1844-1892), Danish economist and newspaper editor
- George Brandes (1842–1927), Danish writer and literature critic, brother of Edvard Brandes
- John Brandes (born 1964), American football player
- Richard John Brandes, American businessman
- Wilhelm Brandes (1854–1928), German writer
- Xarden Brandes (born 1979), U.S. Navy
- Jan Laurens Andries Brandes (1857-1905), Dutch historian
- Alwin Brandes (1866–1949), Geman politician and trade union leader
- Bruno Brandes (1910–1985), German lawyer and politician (CDU), MdB, MdL Niedersachsen
- Christian Brandes (born 1971), German politician (Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive)
- Detlef Brandes (born 1941), German historian and professor at Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf
- Dietmar Brandes (born 1948), German botanist, professor and librarian
- Ebert Q Brandes (1930-2000), American Architect
- Ester Charlotte Brandes (1742–1786), actress
- Gerhard Brandes (1902–1999), German politician and senator for Hamburg
- Gustav Brandes (1842–1941), German zoologist
- Heinrich Brandes (1803–1868), German landscape painter
- Heinrich Wilhelm Brandes (1777–1834), German astronomer, mathematician and physicist
- Hennig Brandes (born 1958), German politician (CDU)
- Ilse Brandes (born 1897), German politician (CDU)
- Johann Christian Brandes (1735–1799), German dramatist
- Lothar Brandes (born 1926), German painter
- Rudolph Simon Brandes (1795–1842), German naturalist and pharmacist
- Werner Brandes (1889–1968), German cameraman
- Will Brandes (1928–1990), German pop singer
- Winfried Brandes (born 1942), managing director of 'Prussian Memorial Institute e.V.'