Braley
An English given name derived from the Old English word "bræl" meaning "meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 318 living Americans carry the first name Braley. It is a predominantly female name (96.6% of registrations). The average person named Braley today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Braley births was 2011 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Braley. 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.
People living today
318
~ 1 in 1,077,844 Americans
Peak year
2011
24 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2013 SSA rank
#12,391
Tracked since 1993
Census
Braley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 420 people with the first name Braley, which placed it at #23,335 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
#23,335
National first-name rank
People counted
420
420 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Braley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braley is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Braley 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 Braley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.7% · 343
- Black or African American6.4% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 27
- Two or more races3.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Braley
Braley leans heavily female at 96.6% of total registrations, but 11 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Braley as a male name
- Ranked #12,391 in 2013
- 5 male births in 2013
- Peak: 2007 (6 births)
Braley as a female name
- Ranked #15,635 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Braley on both sides of the split. Of the 414 people counted with this name, 92 were male (22.2%) and 322 were female (77.8%).
Popularity
Braley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Braley from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 132 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Braley 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 Braley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Braley
The given name Braley is believed to have originated from an Old English word "bræl," which meant "a patch of land cleared for cultivation." The name likely emerged in the medieval period, possibly as a surname referring to someone who lived near or worked on such a piece of land.
During the Middle Ages, the name Braley was primarily confined to certain regions of England, particularly in the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire. It was not uncommon for surnames to transition into given names, and this appears to be the case with Braley.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Braley can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and tenants commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a landowner named Braley, though the spelling may have been slightly different at the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Braley. In the 14th century, Sir John Braley was a prominent knight who fought alongside Edward III in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). Another notable figure was Thomas Braley (c. 1492-1557), an English clergyman who served as the Archdeacon of Stow from 1532 until his death.
During the Renaissance period, the name Braley gained some literary recognition. In 1589, the poet and playwright Thomas Kyd (1558-1594) mentioned a character named Braley in his play "The Spanish Tragedy." This work is considered one of the great Elizabethan tragedies and may have contributed to the name's popularity during that era.
In the 18th century, a notable figure bearing the name Braley was Samuel Braley (1726-1802), an American revolutionary and politician who served as a representative from Massachusetts in the United States Congress from 1795 to 1797.
Another prominent individual was Sir Edward Braley (1795-1876), a British naval officer who distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars and later served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1849 to 1854.
While the name Braley has its roots in medieval England, it has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds and professions throughout history, leaving an indelible mark on the cultural and historical tapestry of the regions where it has been used.
People
Braley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Braley 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
Braley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Braley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 318 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Braley 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 1,077,844 US residents.
Is Braley a common name?
We classify Braley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 322 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Braley most popular?
The single biggest year for Braley was 2011, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Braley is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Braley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 420 people with the name Braley, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,335 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 Braley 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 Braley?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Braley on both sides of the split. Of the 414 people counted with this name, 92 were male (22.2%) and 322 were female (77.8%). 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 Braley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Braley is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Braley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Braley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (343 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 Braley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Braley a female name?
Yes, 96.6% of people registered as Braley in the SSA data are female. 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 Braley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Braley 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 Braley 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 Braley?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Braley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.