Bradd
A masculine name derived from the Old English word "brad" meaning "broad" or "spacious".
Name Census estimates that about 567 living Americans carry the first name Bradd. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bradd today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bradd births was 1976 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bradd. 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 Bradd with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
567
~ 1 in 604,505 Americans
Peak year
1976
27 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2009 SSA rank
#11,175
Tracked since 1947
Census
Bradd in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 592 people with the first name Bradd, which placed it at #18,254 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
#18,254
National first-name rank
People counted
592
592 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bradd
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bradd is White at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and Two or More Races (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 Bradd 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 Bradd at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.7% · 513
- Black or African American5.6% · 33
- Two or more races2.9% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Popularity
Bradd: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bradd from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 199 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bradd 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 Bradd during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bradds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bradd
The given name Bradd has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old English word "brad," which means "broad" or "wide." This name was commonly used in Anglo-Saxon England and was associated with someone who had a sturdy or robust build.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bradd can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book lists several individuals with the name Bradd, indicating its usage during the Norman period.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bradd was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes of English society. One notable figure from this era was Bradd of Northumbria, a renowned warrior who fought alongside King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
During the Renaissance period, the name Bradd gained popularity across Europe. In Italy, the humanist scholar and philosopher Bradd Bracciolini (1369-1459) was a prominent figure in the Italian Renaissance. He was known for his contributions to classical literature and his role in reviving the study of ancient texts.
In the 17th century, Bradd Winslow (1595-1655) was an influential English Puritan and one of the founders of the town of Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. He played a crucial role in the early settlement of New England and is remembered for his leadership during the Pequot War.
Another notable figure with the name Bradd was Bradd Pitt (1963-), an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Pitt is widely regarded as one of the most influential and popular actors of his generation.
These are just a few examples of individuals with the given name Bradd who have left their mark on history. While the name may have evolved and undergone various spelling variations over time, its roots can be traced back to the Old English language and its association with strength and robustness.
People
Bradd + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bradd 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
Bradd: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bradd?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 567 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bradd 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 604,505 US residents.
Is Bradd a common name?
We classify Bradd as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 653 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bradd most popular?
The single biggest year for Bradd was 1976, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bradd is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bradd in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 592 people with the name Bradd, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,254 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 Bradd 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 Bradd?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bradd appears almost entirely male. Of the 588 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Bradd?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bradd is White at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and Two or More Races (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 Bradd most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bradd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.7% (513 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 Bradd in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bradd a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bradd 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 Bradd still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bradd 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 Bradd 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 have the name Bradd?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Bradd, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.