From the ancient tribal name Vandal, later used in English for a destroyer of property.
Vandal comes from the ancient tribal name Vandal, later used in English for a destroyer of property. That dual history gives the name an unusual tension between ethnic origin and pejorative later meaning. As a given name, Vandal feels hard-edged and provocative. It has a forceful sound and a strong historical profile, though its later English associations make it feel unusually stark.