Shawn Bradley
There are approximately 137 people named Shawn Bradley living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,501,856 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Shawn with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Bradley. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
137
1 in 2,501,856
Named Shawn
314K
Alive today
Named Bradley
150K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 314K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1971
Average age: 45
Top Census group: White (75.5%)
Estimated bearers: 150K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #218
Per 100K: 43.67
Top ancestry: White (66.2%)
First name trend
Shawn: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Shawn. The peak year was 1971 with 14,688 births. The average person named Shawn today is 45 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawn
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Shawn, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 75.5%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Shawn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Shawn at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White75.5% · 211,106
- Black or African American13.2% · 36,838
- Two or more races4.1% · 11,596
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 10,869
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 6,338
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2,939
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Bradley surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Bradley, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 66.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Bradley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Bradley at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White66.2% · 86,365
- Black or African American24.6% · 32,064
- Two or more races4.5% · 5,915
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 4,343
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1,047
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 792
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Shawn has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0916% of the US population, based on 313,831 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Shawn right now.
The surname Bradley appears at a rate of 43.67 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0437%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 137 people with the full name Shawn Bradley. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Shawn
Related
Other people with the surname Bradley
FAQ
Shawn Bradley: questions and answers
How many people are named Shawn Bradley?
We estimate approximately 137 people in the United States share the full name Shawn Bradley. That works out to about 1 in 2,501,856 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0916%) with the surname frequency (43.67 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Shawn Bradley?
We classify Shawn Bradley as "Very Rare". About 1 in 2,501,856 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Shawn a male or female name?
Shawn is predominantly male. Out of 339,174 total SSA registrations, 90.3% were male and 9.7% were female. See the full Shawn profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How common is the name Shawn Bradley?
Want to know how many people are called Shawn Bradley? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.