boy's name
Bradley
BRAD-lee
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 361,165
the United States
#403
2025 births
Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow. It charts in all seven markets we track, and it ranks higher in Scotland at 261st than in the United States at 403rd.
- Bradley is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1980, when 7,262 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,994 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Bradley over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 42 |
| 1890s | 118 |
| 1900s | 128 |
| 1910s | 479 |
| 1920s | 879 |
| 1930s | 1,830 |
| 1940s | 5,543 |
| 1950s | 29,562 |
| 1960s | 48,875 |
| 1970s | 58,971 |
| 1980s | 69,780 |
| 1990s | 48,280 |
| 2000s | 23,757 |
| 2010s | 20,535 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,178 |
What Bradley means
Bradley means broad meadow, or wide clearing. The Old English joins a word meaning broad to one for a woodland clearing, so it describes open ground cut from forest.
Where Bradley comes from
Bradley is an English place name from the Old English brad, broad, joined to leah, a wood or a clearing in one — the same leah that ends Ashley, Shirley, Beverly and a great many English village names. Clearings cut from woodland were the basic unit of Anglo-Saxon settlement, which is why the element is so productive. Several dozen places in England carry the name, and it became a surname and then, in the twentieth century, a given name, part of the American surname wave that also produced Taylor, Tyler and Brandon.
Bradley in use
Bradley peaked in the United States in 1980, when 7,262 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in all seven markets — 261st in Scotland on 16 births, 355th in England and Wales on 119, 396th in Ireland, 403rd in the United States on 830, 480th in Northern Ireland, 482nd in Canada and 665th in France on 65 — across 361,165 lifetime births. Ranking higher in Scotland than in the country that made it a given name is unusual for a name of this kind.
How popular is Bradley?
In 2025, Bradley was given to 830 babies in the United States, ranking #403 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Bradley is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Bradley
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Bradley also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Bradley over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Bradley
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Bradley in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Bradley
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Bradley — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Bradley
What does the name Bradley mean?
Broad meadow — the Old English brad, broad, joined to leah, a woodland clearing.
Is Brad short for Bradley?
Yes, and it is also registered as a name in its own right.
Where is Bradley used?
All six markets we track, and it ranks higher in Scotland at 261st than in the United States at 403rd.
How popular is Bradley?
403rd in the United States, down from a 1980 peak of 7,262 births.
Is Bradley a girl's or a boy's name?
Bradley is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Bradley?
Bradley has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Bradley?
Bradley is usually shortened to Brad.
Is Bradley a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Bradley currently ranks #261 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.