Peregrin Took as Merry, was his cousin; another good friend was Frodo Baggins. 'Peregrin' means 'traveller in strange countries'. Pippin indeed saw much more of Middle-earth than most Hobbits: he journeyed with Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, and fought in the War of the Ring. Late in life he travelled again to the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor. Pippin's hair colour is mentioned as "almost golden" in "The History of Middle-earth", vol. IX, "Sauron Defeated", through the eyes of Pippin Gamgee. In the later drafts of this same section Tolkien omitted this statement, leaving the reader to envisage Pippin's appearance.
Brandybuck Clan stated to be a rendering of the original Westron (Common Speech) Brandagamba, "Marchbuck". In keeping with the conceit that "The Lord of the Rings" was derived from the translated Red Book of Westmarch, Tolkien claimed to have translated all its Westron words into English — including the names of characters. While "Marchbuck" ("march" bearing its archaic meaning of "border") is the exact representation of "Brandagamba", Tolkien rendered it "Brandybuck" to preserve the name's similarity with the River "Branda-nîn" ("Baranduin" in Sindarin), which Tolkien then rendered "Brandywine" in English to reflect an alternate name, "Bralda-hîm", meaning "heady ale", referring to the