Head to head · Boys' names
Bradley vs King
#403 vs #405 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Bradley is a whisker ahead (#403 vs #405 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Bradley leads 4 measures of 6; King leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Bradley #776, King #369 — King higher
- 1890s: Bradley #651, King #393 — King higher
- 1900s: Bradley #715, King #424 — King higher
- 1910s: Bradley #761, King #543 — King higher
- 1920s: Bradley #696, King #638 — King higher
- 1930s: Bradley #424, King #676 — Bradley higher
- 1940s: Bradley #293, King #713 — Bradley higher
- 1950s: Bradley #119, King #881 — Bradley higher
- 1960s: Bradley #74, King #1177 — Bradley higher
- 1970s: Bradley #54, King #1633 — Bradley higher
- 1980s: Bradley #54, King #1883 — Bradley higher
- 1990s: Bradley #82, King #1948 — Bradley higher
- 2000s: Bradley #172, King #1260 — Bradley higher
- 2010s: Bradley #199, King #218 — Bradley higher
- 2020s: Bradley #343, King #265 — King higher
Bradley stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; King took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Bradley | King |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #776 | #369 |
| 1890s | #651 | #393 |
| 1900s | #715 | #424 |
| 1910s | #761 | #543 |
| 1920s | #696 | #638 |
| 1930s | #424 | #676 |
| 1940s | #293 | #713 |
| 1950s | #119 | #881 |
| 1960s | #74 | #1177 |
| 1970s | #54 | #1633 |
| 1980s | #54 | #1883 |
| 1990s | #82 | #1948 |
| 2000s | #172 | #1260 |
| 2010s | #199 | #218 |
| 2020s | #343 | #265 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Bradley
broad clearing, broad meadow
From Old English brād 'broad' and lēah 'wood, clearing, meadow' — the same lēah that ends Ashley, Shirley and Beverley.
brād lēah (Old English: broad clearing) → Bradley (English place name) → Bradley (English surname) → Bradley (given name)
How it traveled
The English landscape is full of Bradleys: settlements named for a wide clearing in woodland, recorded in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and beyond. Families who came from such a place took the place as their name, and Bradley became a widespread English surname.
King
king, ruler
From Old English cyning, formed from cyn, "kin" — literally the head of a kindred or people. The English surname King arose in the Middle Ages, sometimes for a man who served a royal household, sometimes as a nickname for someone with a lordly bearing or who played the King in a village pageant.
cyning (Old English) → king (Middle English) → King (English surname) → King (given name)
How it traveled
The word goes back to Old English cyning, built on cyn, "kin" — the leader of a people rather than the owner of a crown. By the Middle Ages King had settled into England as a hereditary surname, and it remains one of the more widespread English surnames today.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Bradley
BRAD-lee
Stress on the first syllable. Two syllables, no silent letters, and no competing pronunciation in English.
- Brad — The default short form for generations, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Bradders — British informal, the -ers pattern used among friends and teammates.
- Lee — Occasionally taken from the second syllable; also a full given name and surname on its own.
- B — Family shorthand, used mostly at home.
King
KING
One syllable, identical to the English word. No regional variation and effectively nothing to spell out over the phone.
- King — Already a single syllable, so it is most often used in full; it also serves as the everyday short form for boys named Kingston or Kingsley.
- Kingy — Informal, family- and playground-level; not used in writing.
- K — Initial used informally among friends and teammates.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Bradley if you want…
- a name with more sound in itBradley runs 2 syllables, King 1
Choose King if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKing is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesKing is 1 syllable to Bradley's 2
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Bradley
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and said the way it looks — rarely misheard on a phone or over a counter.
- Comes with Brad, a short form so established it has long stood alone as a name.
- An unbroken presence in the American record since the earliest years of national name-keeping.
To consider
- Its strongest years are behind it, so a boy named Bradley today will more often share the name with adults than with classmates. That can be a plus or a mismatch, depending on what you want.
- Brad will arrive whether you invite it or not. Worth deciding now whether you like it, because most people will reach for it by the second week.
- Bradly and Bradlee both exist, so expect the occasional spelling check — though the -ley ending is the one people default to.
King
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are settled for any English speaker — nobody will ask how to write it or how to say it.
- One syllable, which pairs easily with longer middle and last names.
- A documented English surname reaching back to the Middle Ages, so the name has a long record behind its recent use as a first name.
To consider
- It is a word with a claim inside it. Some people hear it as confident and some hear it as boastful, and a child will meet both reactions — most often in the small comments of classmates and coaches rather than anywhere that matters.
- In Christian usage "King" carries strong religious weight, and in current slang it is also a casual form of address between friends. Both are worth knowing about before the name is on a birth certificate.
- King is also a very common surname, so read the full name aloud with the last name attached — a few combinations land as a title rather than a person.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Bradley and King in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Bradley and King?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Names that belong entirely to the 1970s
- Strong-sounding names with a hard edge
- Royal title names: King, Reign, Royal
- all guides
Where Bradley and King each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Bradley or King — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Bradley or King?
- Bradley, in 2025: Bradley ranked #403 with 794 babies; King ranked #405 with 786 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Bradley or King?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Bradley moved down 130 places; King moved down 234 places.
- Which is the older name, Bradley or King?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Bradley and King?
- About 280,000 people named Bradley are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 33,500 people named King are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Bradleys or Kings in the classroom?
- Bradley will almost certainly be the only one in school. King will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Bradley, King and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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