Brady
Feminine
Brady is given to boys far more often — 96,770 boys against 2,138 girls since 1880. See Brady as a boy name
Brady is an Irish surname, and the word underneath it has been read two ways for a long time. Brádach may describe a large chest or a spirited temperament, and Irish sources have never settled between them.
How old is the name Brady?
Brady first appears in US birth records in 1903 — 122 years ago. The typical Brady alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 2,100 people named Brady are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Brady most popular?
Brady peaked in 1903, reaching #1592 nationally. Today it ranks #3100, 1,508 places below that high. See the whole 1903 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From brádach to Brady
The story of Brady
The Ó Brádaigh were a Breifne family, in what is now County Cavan, and the surname is among the more common Irish ones. It reached America in large numbers with nineteenth-century emigration and became a given name there — first for sons, in the general movement of Irish surnames forward, and later for daughters. Its American record as a girls' name has a long thin tail going back to the beginning of the twentieth century.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Irish Ó Brádaigh is built on brádach, and the readings offered are 'spirited' and 'large-chested', from a word for a chest or a gullet. Neither has been established. A third line takes the name from bradach, 'thieving', which is the sort of byname Irish naming produced freely and which descendants generally ignored. Nothing here is settled.
How the name formed
- brádach
- Ó Brádaigh
- Brady
Related forms: Ó Brádaigh
Pronouncing Brady
BRAY-dee
Two syllables, stress on the first. There is no ambiguity in the sound; the name has never had a pronunciation problem in English.
Nicknames for Brady
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
- 1903
- Most girls named
- 202165 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1592reached in 1903
- Change vs 2024
- +23.8%52 in 2025, from 42
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.
Brady in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Brádaigh in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Illinois.
Bradys among us
people named Brady are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 30,909 born in 2025 was named Brady
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Brady
- #3100
- Brady on the 2025 chart
- #902
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Brady went to 52 girls in 2025, but Bradi is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 58, which makes it the 902nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,198 places above the chart.
- Brady52
- Bradi6
About 1 girl in 27,712 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 30,909 for Brady itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Brady 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 Brady is headed
Brady 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.
Brady beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Brady in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Irish surname with a real family and territory behind it.
- Two syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Five letters, nothing silent, and easy for a small child to write.
- It is given to sons far more often, so a daughter will be read as a son on paper.
- Its meaning is genuinely unsettled among three quite different readings.
- It is unmistakably a surname and will be read as one on forms.
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Brady
Feminine · #3100 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bradys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Brady are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Brady?
- Brady is the most-used spelling in US records — 52 of the 58 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Bradi.
- How popular is the name Brady in 2025?
- Brady ranks #3100 among US girl names in 2025, with 52 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Brady?
- About 1 in every 30,909 US girls born in 2025 was named Brady — 52 in all.
- Will my child share the name Brady with classmates?
- Brady will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Brady
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Addalynn#3100 · Yatziri#3100 · Alanie#3100 · Grayson#3100 · Lainie#3100 · Clarice#3100 · Ellora#3100 · Kalila#3100
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Brady? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Brady and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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