Humanverse

Bradford vs Brandi

American parents have registered 102,295 Brandis since 1880, against 32,114 Bradfords. But in 2025 it was Bradford that was commoner, 32 babies to 28.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Bradford against Brandi, 1880 to 2025 0 1.5k 3k 4.5k 6k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Bradford Brandi

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 136 years in which either name was published, Bradford for 84 years and Brandi for 52 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Bradford Brandi
Total US births 32,114102,295
Most in one year 7795,551
Babies in 2025 3228
Estimated living today 24,00099,000
Median age today 5241
Peak year 19531981
Best rank 240th boys50th girls
Rank in 2025 3,513th4,758th
First recorded 18801949
Girls / boys 39 / 32,075101,906 / 389

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Bradfords alive today are over 52; half the Brandis are over 41. That is 11 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Bradford and Brandi.