boy's name
Brady
BRAY-dee
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 107,760
the United States
#321
2025 births
Brady means descendant of Brádach, an Irish byname whose own meaning is not settled — spirited, large-chested and broad-eyed are all proposed, and none is established. It charts in four markets. It holds 100,275 lifetime births in our records.
- Brady is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 2007, when 5,015 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,952 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1883.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Brady 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 | 60 |
| 1890s | 92 |
| 1900s | 152 |
| 1910s | 483 |
| 1920s | 703 |
| 1930s | 564 |
| 1940s | 701 |
| 1950s | 1,392 |
| 1960s | 1,708 |
| 1970s | 4,740 |
| 1980s | 7,696 |
| 1990s | 16,620 |
| 2000s | 34,781 |
| 2010s | 22,125 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,091 |
What Brady means
Brady means descendant of Brádach. The byname behind it has no secure meaning: spirited, large-chested and broad-eyed are all offered and none has been established.
Where Brady comes from
Brady anglicizes the Irish Ó Brádaigh, descendant of Brádach — a personal name whose derivation is genuinely open, with spirited, large-chested and broad-eyed among the proposals. The family were lords of a territory in County Cavan. A separate English Brady exists as a place name meaning broad island, from brad and eg, which contributes to the surname independently. Its use as a given name is late twentieth-century American.
Brady in use
Brady peaked in the United States in 2007, when 5,015 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 321st in the United States on 1,123 births, 360th in Scotland on 10, 448th in Ireland on 8 and 878th in England and Wales on 36, across 107,760 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. Scotland and Ireland both rank it close behind America.
How popular is Brady?
In 2025, Brady was given to 1,123 babies in the United States, ranking #321 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Brady 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 Brady
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Brady also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Brady over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Brady 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.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Bradey
Sibling names for Brady
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Brady — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Brady
What does the name Brady mean?
Descendant of Brádach — a byname whose own meaning is not settled.
Is Brady Irish?
The main line is, from Ó Brádaigh in County Cavan. A separate English place name also feeds the surname.
Does Brady mean broad island?
That belongs to the separate English source, not the Irish one.
How popular is Brady?
321st in the United States, down from a 2007 peak of 5,015 births.
Is Brady a girl's or a boy's name?
Brady is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Brady?
Brady has 2 syllables.
Is Brady a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Brady currently ranks #321 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.