Bradley
Feminine · “broad clearing”
Bradley is given to boys far more often — 313,008 boys against 1,949 girls since 1880. See Bradley as a boy name
Bradley is an English place name meaning the broad clearing, and there are dozens of them — it is one of the commonest place names in England.
How old is the name Bradley?
Bradley first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Bradley alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 1,900 people named Bradley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bradley most popular?
Bradley peaked in 1984, reaching #1886 nationally. Today it ranks #3975, 2,089 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From brad leah to Bradley
The story of Bradley
A broad clearing was worth naming and worth settling, which is why the compound recurs everywhere. Families took the local place name, so English Bradleys are not one family but dozens. The surname moved into American given names in the twentieth century and peaked in the 1980s; its use for girls is small and belongs to the same decade.
Meaning
broad clearing
From Old English brad, broad, and leah, a woodland clearing; the compound is so useful that it names villages in at least fifteen English counties, and the surname arose independently in most of them.
How the name formed
- brad leah
- Bradley
Related forms: Bradly · Bradleigh
Pronouncing Bradley
BRAD-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Bradley
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1920
- Most girls named
- 202262 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1886reached in 1984
- Change vs 2023
- −26.5%36 in 2025, from 49
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bradley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bradly in English — spelling variant
- Bradleigh in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, North Carolina.
Bradleys among us
people named Bradley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 44,646 born in 2025 was named Bradley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Magdeline test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bradley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Magdeline climbed just as high around 1918, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Magdeline's path sketches the road Bradley is walking now.
Bradley sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Bradley is headed
Bradley should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Bradley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bradley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled place-name meaning that is completely transparent.
- Brad and Lee are both complete names in their own right.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It is strongly read as a boys' name and she will correct assumptions.
- It is heavily associated with one American decade.
- An armored vehicle carries the surname, which some will mention.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Bradley to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Bradley? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Bradley
Feminine · #3975 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bradleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Bradley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bradley in 2025?
- Bradley ranks #3975 among US girl names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bradley?
- About 1 in every 44,646 US girls born in 2025 was named Bradley — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bradley with classmates?
- Bradley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bradley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rubie#3975 · Jodi#3975 · An#3975 · Ilianna#3975 · Saja#3975 · Ansleigh#3975 · Sarayah#3975 · Dorcas#3975
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bradley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bradley and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle