Bradley

This modern-American favorite has actually been on the U.S. popularity charts since the government began tracking naming trends in 1880. We were surprised to see the name date back so far. Bradley sort of floundered on the charts in the first part of the 20th century but made some significant jumps in the late 1940s. We think this was probably influenced by the five-star General Omar Bradley, a WWII senior field commander, war hero, and the first general to be appointed Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff (by Truman). Between the mid-1940s and the early 1950s, the name accelerated almost 200 positions on the charts. After that, Bradley stuck. It hit the Top 100 list of most commonly used boys’ name in 1960 and experienced its peak popularity in the 1970s and 80s when it was almost a Top 50 favorite. The name’s usage is waning in current years, but not dramatically. It fell off the Top 100 list in 1998 but seems to be holding strong on the Top 200. Bradley begs to be shortened to Brad. There’s just something about the “-lee” sounding suffix that feminizes Bradley as a first name, although the dashing actor Bradley Cooper is changing our mind about that. Still, the one-syllable Brad has a no-nonsense quality of masculinity and a certain one-two punch (à la Brad Pitt). We would venture to guess that all girls who grew up in the 70s, 80s and 90s remember at least one cute boy in their class name Brad(ley).