Bradley
Derived from an English surname meaning "broad wood" or "broad clearing".
Name Census estimates that about 285,383 living Americans carry the first name Bradley. It sits at #364 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Bradley today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bradley births was 1980 (7,261 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bradley. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bradley with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Bradley is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,913 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
285K
~ 1 in 1,201 Americans
Peak year
1980
7,261 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#364
Tracked since 1880
Census
Bradley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237,483 people with the first name Bradley, which placed it at #240 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#240
National first-name rank
People counted
237K
237,483 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
78.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bradley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bradley is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Black (2.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bradley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bradley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.3% · 211,993
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 7,980
- Black or African American2.9% · 6,909
- Two or more races2.9% · 6,779
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2,316
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,506
Gender
Gender distribution for Bradley
Out of the 314,113 babies given the name Bradley since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Bradley as a male name
- Ranked #364 in 2024
- 906 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1980 (7,209 births)
Bradley as a female name
- Ranked #3,078 in 2024
- 52 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (62 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bradley appears almost entirely male. Of the 237,481 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Bradley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bradley from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 69,782 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bradley by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bradley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bradleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Bradley, while Rhode Island, Delaware, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6,073 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bradley
The name Bradley has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the combination of two words: "brad" meaning "broad" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." It was originally a surname that described someone who lived near a broad meadow or clearing in the countryside.
During the Middle Ages, the name Bradley was primarily used as a locational surname in various regions of England, particularly in the counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Staffordshire. It was also sometimes spelled as Bradelegh, Bradeley, or Bradele, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Bradley can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears in various entries, indicating the existence of settlements or manors bearing the name Bradley.
In the 13th century, the name Bradley began to transition from a surname to a given name, as it became more common for people to adopt surnames based on their place of origin or residence. This trend accelerated in the following centuries, and by the 16th and 17th centuries, Bradley was firmly established as a popular given name among the English population.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bradley. One of the earliest was Bradley of Hameldon (c. 1320-1390), an English landowner and influential figure in Lancashire during the 14th century. Another early bearer of the name was Bradley Whyteley (c. 1490-1542), a English Protestant reformer and martyr who was burned at the stake for his religious beliefs.
In more recent times, famous individuals named Bradley include:
1. Bradley Cooper (born 1975), an American actor known for films such as "The Hangover" and "A Star Is Born."
2. Bradley Wiggins (born 1980), a British former professional road and track cyclist who won the Tour de France in 2012.
3. Bradley Steven Perry (born 1998), an American actor best known for his role in the Disney Channel series "Good Luck Charlie."
4. Bradley Walsh (born 1960), an English actor, comedian, and television presenter known for hosting various game shows.
5. Bradley Whitford (born 1959), an American actor known for his roles in "The West Wing" and "The Handmaid's Tale."
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Bradley throughout history, reflecting its enduring popularity and diverse cultural influence.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bradley
People
Bradley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bradley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bradley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bradley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 285,383 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bradley going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,201 US residents.
Is Bradley a common name?
We classify Bradley as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 314,113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bradley most popular?
The single biggest year for Bradley was 1980, when 7,261 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bradley is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bradley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237,483 people with the name Bradley, or 78.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #240 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bradley in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bradley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bradley appears almost entirely male. Of the 237,481 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bradley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bradley is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Black (2.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bradley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bradley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.3% (211,993 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bradley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bradley a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Bradley in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bradley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bradley in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bradley can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Bradley?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Bradley at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.