Brodey
Meaning "broad clearing", an Old English masculine name.
Name Census estimates that about 1,162 living Americans carry the first name Brodey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brodey today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brodey births was 2008 (113 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brodey. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 294,969 Americans
Peak year
2008
113 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,388
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Brodey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brodey from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 589 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
Brodey 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 Brodey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Brodeys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Brodey, while Missouri, Florida, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Brodey
The name Brodey is believed to have its origins in the Gaelic language, specifically in the Scottish and Irish cultural traditions. It is thought to be a variant spelling of the name Brodie, which itself is derived from the Old English words "brod" or "brord," meaning "broad" or "wide."
This connection suggests that the name Brodey may have initially been used as a descriptive surname referring to someone with a broad or sturdy build. The earliest known records of the name date back to the 13th century in Scotland, where it was used as a family name.
While there are no direct references to the name Brodey in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Brodie does appear in several historical records from Scotland. One notable example is the Brodie Castle, a 16th-century tower house located in Moray, Scotland, which was the ancestral home of the Brodie clan.
Some of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Brodey include:
1. Brodey MacKinnon (c. 1550 - 1620), a Scottish clan chief and landowner from the Isle of Skye.
2. Brodey Macleod (c. 1580 - 1650), a Scottish warrior and member of the Macleod clan.
3. Brodey Campbell (c. 1620 - 1690), a Scottish minister and scholar.
4. Brodey Macintosh (c. 1670 - 1745), a Scottish Jacobite soldier who fought in the Battle of Culloden.
5. Brodey Macdonald (c. 1720 - 1790), a Scottish poet and author known for his works in Gaelic.
Throughout history, the name Brodey has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including clan leaders, warriors, religious figures, and literary figures. While not as common as some other Scottish names, it has maintained a presence in the cultural heritage of Scotland and Ireland.
People
Brodey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brodey 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
Brodey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brodey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brodey 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 294,969 US residents.
Is Brodey a common name?
We classify Brodey as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,176 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brodey most popular?
The single biggest year for Brodey was 2008, when 113 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brodey is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brodey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brodey 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.