Brad
Brad was given to 24 boys in 2025, #4,266 among boys’ names; 83,293 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 69,600 Americans named Brad and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (84% of everyone recorded); the median is 53 years old and half are between 45 and 63.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Brad by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Brad mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Brad is “a diminutive of the male given names Bradley, Bradly, and Bradford, also used as a formal given name.”
/bɹæd/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Brad?
#4,266 among boys’ names, 2025
Brad fell from #1,744 in 2015 to #4,266 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 45.9 to 14.1 per million.
2,651 babies in 1960, the peak
Brad peaked in 1960, when 2,651 babies were given it (2,644 boys, #134 among boys’ names). The 24 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 24 | #4,266 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 26 | #4,088 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 28 | #3,898 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 32 | #3,543 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 36 | #3,249 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 41 | #2,888 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 40 | #2,997 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 54 | #2,418 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 55 | #2,350 | 0.03 |
| 2016 | 50 | #2,521 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (106)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 88 | #1,744 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 76 | #1,907 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 86 | #1,710 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 99 | #1,589 | 0.05 |
| 2011 | 117 | #1,411 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | 117 | #1,415 | 0.06 |
| 2009 | 145 | #1,234 | 0.07 |
| 2008 | 166 | #1,105 | 0.08 |
| 2007 | 206 | #955 | 0.10 |
| 2006 | 214 | #906 | 0.10 |
| 2005 | 228 | #824 | 0.11 |
| 2004 | 212 | #837 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 215 | #808 | 0.11 |
| 2002 | 231 | #749 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 263 | #684 | 0.14 |
| 2000 | 289 | #632 | 0.15 |
| 1999 | 307 | #602 | 0.16 |
| 1998 | 338 | #579 | 0.18 |
| 1997 | 388 | #521 | 0.21 |
| 1996 | 419 | #498 | 0.22 |
| 1995 | 398 | #513 | 0.21 |
| 1994 | 383 | #516 | 0.20 |
| 1993 | 456 | #463 | 0.23 |
| 1992 | 471 | #461 | 0.24 |
| 1991 | 566 | #401 | 0.28 |
| 1990 | 649 | #363 | 0.32 |
| 1989 | 750 | #320 | 0.37 |
| 1988 | 834 | #278 | 0.44 |
| 1987 | 1,026 | #228 | 0.55 |
| 1986 | 1,102 | #216 | 0.60 |
| 1985 | 1,143 | #211 | 0.62 |
| 1984 | 1,237 | #196 | 0.69 |
| 1983 | 1,471 | #175 | 0.82 |
| 1982 | 1,687 | #163 | 0.93 |
| 1981 | 1,958 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1980 | 2,371 | #116 | 1.3 |
| 1979 | 2,334 | #115 | 1.4 |
| 1978 | 2,106 | #123 | 1.3 |
| 1977 | 2,524 | #106 | 1.5 |
| 1976 | 2,438 | #108 | 1.6 |
| 1975 | 2,608 | #98 | 1.7 |
| 1974 | 2,483 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1973 | 1,885 | #137 | 1.2 |
| 1972 | 1,748 | #149 | 1.1 |
| 1971 | 2,164 | #139 | 1.2 |
| 1970 | 2,327 | #139 | 1.3 |
| 1969 | 2,106 | #145 | 1.2 |
| 1968 | 1,709 | #158 | 1.0 |
| 1967 | 1,771 | #155 | 1.0 |
| 1966 | 1,896 | #150 | 1.1 |
| 1965 | 2,091 | #148 | 1.1 |
| 1964 | 2,278 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 2,273 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1962 | 2,082 | #158 | 1.0 |
| 1961 | 2,501 | #142 | 1.2 |
| 1960 | 2,644 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1959 | 2,347 | #149 | 1.1 |
| 1958 | 2,255 | #151 | 1.1 |
| 1957 | 2,191 | #153 | 1.0 |
| 1956 | 2,254 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1955 | 1,877 | #153 | 0.91 |
| 1954 | 1,846 | #154 | 0.91 |
| 1953 | 1,650 | #164 | 0.84 |
| 1952 | 966 | #212 | 0.50 |
| 1951 | 615 | #273 | 0.33 |
| 1950 | 460 | #320 | 0.26 |
| 1949 | 307 | #384 | 0.17 |
| 1948 | 266 | #414 | 0.15 |
| 1947 | 230 | #441 | 0.13 |
| 1946 | 163 | #506 | 0.10 |
| 1945 | 73 | #709 | 0.05 |
| 1944 | 67 | #761 | 0.05 |
| 1943 | 65 | #817 | 0.05 |
| 1942 | 60 | #840 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 36 | #1,093 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 31 | #1,211 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 30 | #1,199 | 0.03 |
| 1938 | 18 | #1,620 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 30 | #1,212 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 19 | #1,550 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 27 | #1,298 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 17 | #1,729 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 12 | #2,110 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,121 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 10 | #2,496 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 8 | #3,052 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 5 | #4,029 | under 0.01 |
| 1928 | 6 | #3,752 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 9 | #2,932 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 5 | #4,276 | under 0.01 |
| 1920 | 11 | #2,620 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 6 | #3,776 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 5 | #4,054 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,310 | 0.01 |
| 1887 | 6 | #833 | 0.06 |
| 1880 | 5 | #929 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Brad a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Brad has been given almost only to boys: 233 girls in 106 years of records.
Girls and boys named Brad: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Brad, and how old are they?
69,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 84% of the 83,293 Americans ever recorded as Brad. The median Brad alive today is 53 years old; half are between 45 and 63.
The 2020 Census counted 99,078 people named Brad (102 women and girls, 98,976 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 73,109 born in the U.S. The Census count is 36% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 152 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 20,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 30,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 13,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,470 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 631 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Brad born?
The states with the most babies named Brad are California, Ohio and Illinois, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7,235 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 5,186 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 4,867 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 4,634 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 4,321 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Texas | 4,256 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New York | 3,406 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Indiana | 3,276 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Louisiana | 2,774 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Wisconsin | 2,733 | not ranked | 1.5× |
Where Brad is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Brad is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 2.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Brad with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 84,164 babies since 1880, Brad is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 24 of their 24 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Brad
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Brad and names like it
- Compare Brad and BraddBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sBrad peaked in 1960.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Brad since 1910.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Brad.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Brad alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with BMost given first.