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Boy · Old English
Bradley
Say it: BRAD-lee
Meaning
From an English place name and surname, Old English brad 'broad' + leah 'wood, clearing'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
A surname turned given name, popular in the US from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1980s
In the United States
- 310,047 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1980, about 1 in 248 boys
- 1,271 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Bradly
Famous bearers
- Bradley Cooper, American actor
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.