Grady
Feminine · “Irish O Gradaigh”
Grady is given to boys far more often — 52,474 boys against 741 girls since 1880. See Grady as a boy name
Names cross from boys to girls all the time and hardly ever go back. Grady is one of the small set that ran the other way: it was given to daughters in the 1880s and 1890s, and it is a boy's name now.
How old is the name Grady?
Grady first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Grady alive today was born around 1937, making them about 88 years old. About 300 people named Grady are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Grady most popular?
Grady peaked in 1891, reaching #1093 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 9,014 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Where it comes from
From O Gradaigh to Grady
The story of Grady
The usual direction of travel is well documented. A name used for boys becomes usable for girls, girls' use grows, boys' use collapses, and the name never comes back: Ashley, Shannon, Leslie, Vivian, Evelyn and Beverly all went that way and stayed. What happened to Grady is the rare inverse. In the late nineteenth century surnames were being used as given names for both sexes without much distinction, and the record shows Grady, Murphy and Kelly given to daughters in numbers that would look strange today. Then the surname wave sorted itself: the harder-sounding surnames settled male and the softer ones settled female, and Grady went with the first group. It is a reminder that the one-way rule describes the twentieth century rather than a law of language.
Meaningscholars disagree
Irish O Gradaigh, from gradach, noble
Grady is the anglicized Irish surname O Gradaigh, from a word generally read as noble or illustrious. Nothing in the surname is female. Its use for American girls peaked in 1891 and had ended within a generation; the name is now overwhelmingly male.
How the name formed
- O Gradaigh
- Grady
Related forms: O Gradaigh · Gradey
Pronouncing Grady
GRAY-dee
Two syllables, stress on the first. There is no separate female pronunciation; the name is said the same way for either sex.
Nicknames for Grady
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
- 1891
- Most girls named
- 192721 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1093reached in 1891
- Change vs 2023
- −25.0%9 in 2025, from 12
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.
Grady in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- O Gradaigh in Irish — same name
- Gradey in English — spelling variant
Gradys among us
people named Grady are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named Grady
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Grady 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
Grady beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Grady in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables, five letters, spelled as heard.
- The Irish surname behind it is genuine and documented.
- It has a long American history in both directions.
- It is now read as a male name almost everywhere.
- Its female use ended more than a century ago.
- It will be assumed to be a surname.
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What they receive
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Grady
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gradys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Grady are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Grady in 2025?
- Grady ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Grady?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named Grady — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Grady with classmates?
- Grady will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Grady
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Grady? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Grady and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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