Bradey
An English masculine name derived from a surname with Anglo-Saxon roots.
Name Census estimates that about 708 living Americans carry the first name Bradey. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Bradey today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bradey births was 2007 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bradey. 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 Bradey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
708
~ 1 in 484,116 Americans
Peak year
2007
42 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2020 SSA rank
#8,164
Tracked since 1970
Census
Bradey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 833 people with the first name Bradey, which placed it at #14,206 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
#14,206
National first-name rank
People counted
833
833 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bradey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bradey is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Bradey 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 Bradey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 753
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 29
- Two or more races3.5% · 29
- Black or African American1.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Bradey
Bradey leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 9 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bradey as a male name
- Ranked #8,164 in 2020
- 9 male births in 2020
- Peak: 2002 (39 births)
Bradey as a female name
- Ranked #11,783 in 2007
- 9 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2007 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bradey leans strongly male. 743 people counted with this name were male (90.4%), compared with 79 female bearers (9.6%).
Popularity
Bradey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bradey from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 326 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bradey 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 Bradey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bradeys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Ohio, Washington, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Bradey, while Wisconsin, Washington, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bradey
The name Bradey is of English origin and has its roots in the Old English word "brad," meaning broad or wide. This name is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century, when it was used as a descriptive surname for someone with a broad or sturdy build.
Over time, the name Bradey evolved into a given name, particularly popular in certain regions of England. It was often used as a variant spelling of the more common names Bradley or Braden. While there are no significant historical references or mentions in ancient texts, the name Bradey has been borne by several noteworthy individuals throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Bradey can be found in the parish records of Oxfordshire, England, where a Bradey Williamson was born in 1632. Another early bearer of the name was Bradey Hollister, a merchant from Bristol, England, who lived in the late 17th century.
In the 18th century, Bradey Hawkins (1723-1798) was a renowned British architect responsible for designing several notable buildings in London, including the Old Bailey courthouse. During the same period, Bradey Finnegan (1745-1819) was an Irish poet and playwright whose works were celebrated for their wit and satire.
Moving into the 19th century, Bradey Mathers (1867-1941) was a Scottish explorer and adventurer who gained fame for his expeditions to the Arctic regions. His contemporaries included Bradey Winslow (1879-1958), an American author and journalist known for his vivid accounts of life in the American West.
In more recent times, Bradey Robbins (1925-2003) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in numerous television shows and films throughout his career. He was known for his impeccable timing and ability to bring humor to even the most serious of situations.
While these are just a few examples, the name Bradey has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, each leaving their unique mark on history through their achievements and contributions.
People
Bradey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bradey 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
Bradey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bradey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 708 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bradey 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 484,116 US residents.
Is Bradey a common name?
We classify Bradey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 723 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bradey most popular?
The single biggest year for Bradey was 2007, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bradey is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bradey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 833 people with the name Bradey, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,206 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 Bradey 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 Bradey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bradey leans strongly male. 743 people counted with this name were male (90.4%), compared with 79 female bearers (9.6%). 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 Bradey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bradey is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Bradey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bradey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (753 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 Bradey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bradey a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Bradey 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 Bradey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bradey 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 Bradey 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 share the name Bradey?
Find out how many people have the name Bradey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.