Brandley
A diminutive form of the Old English name Brandon, meaning "burnt land or glade".
Name Census estimates that about 64 living Americans carry the first name Brandley. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brandley today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brandley births was 1986 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brandley. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Brandley. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
64
~ 1 in 5,355,537 Americans
Peak year
1986
9 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2004 SSA rank
#11,577
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Brandley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brandley from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 36 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brandley 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 Brandley 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 Brandley
The name Brandley has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 8th century AD. It is derived from the words "brand" meaning fire or flame, and "leah" meaning a clearing or meadow. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived in a clearing near a burning area or a person who worked with fire.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Brandley appeared in various forms such as Brandlei, Brandlegh, and Brandeleia, reflecting its evolution over time. It was commonly found in areas of present-day England and parts of Scotland during the Anglo-Saxon period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brandley can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a landowner named Brandley who held lands in Oxfordshire.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Brandley. In the 12th century, Brandley of Exeter was a renowned scholar and theologian who authored several works on religious philosophy. Another Brandley, born in 1422 in Yorkshire, was a skilled archer who fought alongside Henry V during the Hundred Years' War.
During the Renaissance period, Brandley Montague (1507-1577) was an English poet and playwright whose works explored themes of love and courtly romance. His contemporary, Brandley Wycliffe (1512-1584), was a prominent Protestant reformer who advocated for the translation of the Bible into the vernacular.
In the 18th century, Brandley Harrison (1723-1807) was a British explorer and cartographer who mapped vast areas of the American West during his expeditions. He is credited with discovering several important rivers and mountain ranges.
Another noteworthy figure was Brandley Livingston (1801-1872), a Scottish-born industrialist and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the development of the textile industry in the United States. His legacy includes the establishment of several educational institutions and charitable organizations.
People
Brandley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brandley 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
Brandley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brandley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 64 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brandley 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 5,355,537 US residents.
Is Brandley a common name?
We classify Brandley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 67 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brandley most popular?
The single biggest year for Brandley was 1986, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brandley is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brandley a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brandley 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.
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.