NameCensus.

UK surname

Bradley

An English locational surname derived from various places meaning "broad clearing" or "wide wood" in Old English.

In the 1881 census there were 24,034 people recorded with the Bradley surname, ranking it #139 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 39,063, ranked #127, up from #139 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Sedgley, London parishes and Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Dudley, Shropshire and Malvern Hills.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Bradley is 40,063 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 62.5%.

1881 census count

24,034

Ranked #139

Modern count

39,063

2016, ranked #127

Peak year

2010

40,063 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Bradley had 24,034 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #139 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 39,063 in 2016, ranked #127.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 32,489 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Bradley surname distribution map

The map shows where the Bradley surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Bradley surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Bradley over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 14,618 #153
1861 historical 16,038 #134
1881 historical 24,034 #139
1891 historical 25,827 #132
1901 historical 30,479 #134
1911 historical 32,489 #113
1997 modern 38,137 #122
1998 modern 39,393 #124
1999 modern 39,764 #124
2000 modern 39,387 #125
2001 modern 38,498 #124
2002 modern 39,187 #126
2003 modern 38,167 #129
2004 modern 38,231 #126
2005 modern 37,654 #129
2006 modern 37,736 #129
2007 modern 38,067 #127
2008 modern 38,193 #128
2009 modern 39,247 #127
2010 modern 40,063 #127
2011 modern 39,485 #129
2012 modern 38,678 #126
2013 modern 39,466 #126
2014 modern 39,794 #126
2015 modern 39,353 #127
2016 modern 39,063 #127

Geography

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Where Bradleys are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Sedgley, London parishes, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, Manchester and Glasgow. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Dudley, Shropshire, Malvern Hills and Hartlepool. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Sedgley Staffordshire
2 London parishes London 3
3 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire
4 Manchester Lancashire
5 Glasgow Lanark

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Dudley 008 Dudley
2 Shropshire 038 Shropshire
3 Malvern Hills 001 Malvern Hills
4 Hartlepool 002 Hartlepool
5 Dudley 007 Dudley

Forenames

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First names often paired with Bradley

These lists show first names that appear often with the Bradley surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Bradley

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Bradley, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce

Group

Established but Challenged

Nationally, the Bradley surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established but Challenged, within Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce. This does not mean every Bradley household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many households in these neighbourhoods comprise separated or divorced single parents with dependent children. Residents are typically born in the UK, and these neighbourhoods have relatively few members of ethnic minorities. The prevalence of children, their parents and those at or above normal retirement age, suggests neighbourhood structures may be long-established. Levels of unpaid care are high, and long-term disability is more common than in the Supergroup as a whole. Use of the social rented sector is common, often in terraced houses. Levels of overcrowding are above the Supergroup average. Unemployment is high, while those in work are employed in elementary occupations such as caring, leisure and customer services. Many residents have low level qualifications. Neighbourhood concentrations of this Group are found in the South Wales Valleys, Belfast, Londonderry and the Central Lowlands of Scotland.

Wider pattern

Living in terraced or semi-detached houses, residents of these neighbourhoods typically lack high levels of education and work in elementary or routine service occupations. Unemployment is above average. Residents are predominantly born in the UK, and residents are also predominantly from ethnic minorities. Social (but not private sector) rented sector housing is common. This Supergroup is found throughout the UK’s conurbations and industrial regions but is also an integral part of smaller towns.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Bradley is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Bradley is most concentrated in decile 7 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

7
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Bradley falls in decile 1 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

1
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Bradley is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Bradley, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Bradley

The surname BRADLEY is of English origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "brad" meaning broad and "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing, referring to someone who lived near a broad clearing or meadow.

The name first appeared in records around the 12th century in various parts of England, particularly in the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire. It was initially spelled in different ways such as Bradelei, Bradelee, and Bradeley before settling on the modern form of BRADLEY.

One of the earliest known references to the name BRADLEY can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners and their properties in England at the time of the Norman Conquest. The name is also mentioned in various medieval charters and rolls from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Some notable historical figures with the surname BRADLEY include Sir Francis BRADLEY (1588-1654), an English politician and member of Parliament during the reign of King Charles I, and William BRADLEY (1757-1833), an English navigator and explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his third voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name BRADLEY is that of Daniel BRADLEY (1626-1675), a Puritan settler who arrived in New England in the 17th century and became one of the founders of the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Other prominent individuals with the surname BRADLEY include Omar BRADLEY (1893-1981), a highly decorated American general who served during World War II and later became the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Bill BRADLEY (born 1943), a former professional basketball player and U.S. Senator from New Jersey.

The surname BRADLEY has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Bradeley Green in Staffordshire and Bradeley Hall in Cheshire, reflecting the original meaning of the name as a "broad clearing" or "meadow."

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Bradley families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Bradley surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Yorkshire leads with 4,828 Bradleys recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.08x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 4,828 2.08x
Lancashire 4,191 1.51x
Middlesex 1,733 0.74x
Staffordshire 1,572 1.99x
Derbyshire 1,011 2.75x
Cheshire 1,007 1.94x
Worcestershire 927 3.03x
Durham 885 1.27x
Warwickshire 848 1.43x
Surrey 753 0.66x
Lincolnshire 700 1.87x
Nottinghamshire 672 2.13x
Kent 567 0.71x
Lanarkshire 457 0.60x
Shropshire 376 1.86x
Essex 305 0.66x
Northumberland 302 0.87x
Gloucestershire 268 0.58x
Leicestershire 227 0.87x
Hampshire 214 0.45x
Suffolk 184 0.64x
Berkshire 168 0.95x
Renfrewshire 161 0.89x
Cumberland 159 0.79x
Sussex 117 0.30x
Cambridgeshire 101 0.68x
Northamptonshire 98 0.44x
Glamorgan 92 0.23x
Devon 86 0.18x
Wiltshire 83 0.40x
Westmorland 77 1.49x
Buckinghamshire 72 0.51x
Oxfordshire 70 0.48x
Hertfordshire 63 0.39x
Herefordshire 55 0.57x
Dorset 51 0.33x
Somerset 44 0.12x
Flintshire 43 0.68x
Angus 42 0.19x
Midlothian 38 0.12x
Dunbartonshire 35 0.56x
Roxburghshire 32 0.75x
Denbighshire 29 0.33x
Perthshire 27 0.26x
Bedfordshire 26 0.21x
Norfolk 23 0.06x
Montgomeryshire 22 0.41x
Monmouthshire 20 0.12x
Wigtownshire 20 0.64x
Radnorshire 19 1.00x
Royal Navy 17 0.61x
Caernarfonshire 16 0.17x
Ayrshire 14 0.08x
Argyllshire 10 0.15x
Fife 10 0.07x
Huntingdonshire 9 0.19x
Kirkcudbrightshire 8 0.24x
Isle of Man 7 0.16x
Anglesey 6 0.14x
East Lothian 6 0.19x
Selkirkshire 6 0.28x
Buteshire 5 0.35x
Cardiganshire 5 0.09x
Channel Islands 4 0.06x
Dumfriesshire 4 0.08x
Cornwall 3 0.01x
Rutland 3 0.17x
Brecknockshire 2 0.04x
Merionethshire 2 0.05x
Stirlingshire 2 0.02x
Banffshire 1 0.02x
Inverness-shire 1 0.01x
Kincardineshire 1 0.04x
Pembrokeshire 1 0.01x
West Lothian 1 0.03x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Sedgley in Staffordshire leads with 468 Bradleys recorded in 1881 and an index of 15.91x.

Place Total Index
Sedgley 468 15.91x
Birmingham 315 1.60x
Aston 254 1.56x
Oldham 231 2.57x
Blackburn 227 3.07x
Leeds 218 1.66x
Preston 201 2.70x
Liverpool 183 1.08x
Nottingham St Mary 181 2.21x
Islington London 162 0.71x
Manchester 155 1.24x
Dudley 154 4.14x
Camberwell 143 0.95x
Everton 143 1.61x
Barony 140 0.73x
Glasgow 140 1.04x
Wolverhampton 140 2.30x
St Pancras London 138 0.73x
Sheffield 134 1.81x
Ashton Under Lyne 133 2.19x
Almondbury 122 10.86x
Bradford 122 2.17x
Shoreditch London 121 1.19x
Macclesfield 117 5.08x
Longbenton 111 7.51x
Hulme 106 1.82x
Kingswinford 103 3.58x
Toxteth Park 103 1.09x
Hackney London 101 0.77x
Lambeth 98 0.48x
Huddersfield 97 2.86x
Barnsley 94 3.92x
Brightside Bierlow 94 2.06x
Salford 94 1.15x
Little Bolton 91 2.54x
Mile End Old Town London 90 1.80x
Stockton On Tees 89 2.65x
Rowley Regis 88 3.99x
St Marylebone London 88 0.70x
West Bromwich 86 1.90x
Hyde 85 5.56x
Oldbury 82 5.44x
West Ham 81 0.79x
Chesterfield 80 5.81x
Govan 80 0.43x
Keighley 80 3.23x
Morley 80 6.62x
West Derby 79 0.97x
Bethnal Green London 78 0.77x
Accrington 76 3.00x
Holy Trinity 74 1.32x
Halifax 73 2.14x
Kensington London 72 0.55x
Bermondsey 71 1.02x
Great Bolton 70 1.90x
Tipton 70 2.89x
Bingley 69 4.66x
Stoke Upon Trent 68 0.81x
Ecclesall Bierlow 67 1.42x
Ardwick 66 2.63x
Deptford St Paul 66 1.07x
Alfreton 64 5.74x
Horton In Bradford 63 1.74x
Litherland 63 10.83x
Habergham Eaves 62 2.44x
Manningham 62 2.17x
Newton 62 2.89x
Stockport 62 2.33x
Bollington In 59 12.80x
Barrow In Furness 58 1.53x
Dukinfield 57 2.38x
Ovenden 57 5.51x
Portsea 57 0.61x
Shipston On Stour 55 39.46x
Attercliffe Cum Darnall 54 2.49x
Kirkdale 54 1.15x
Lockwood 54 6.46x
West Greenock 54 1.66x
Westbury On Severn East 53 5.10x
Nether Hallam 52 1.65x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Bradley surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 1,622
Sarah 974
Elizabeth 929
Ann 544
Jane 473
Annie 384
Ellen 379
Eliza 363
Alice 338
Emma 323
Hannah 314
Martha 266
Margaret 254
Emily 188
Maria 152
Harriet 151
Louisa 128
Charlotte 122
Catherine 114
Fanny 114
Florence 110
Edith 108
Ada 104
Lucy 103
Clara 100
Kate 96
Frances 84
Anne 79
Agnes 75
Caroline 72
Isabella 71
Susan 69
Rose 62
Esther 61
Rebecca 61
Harriett 55
Amelia 53
Susannah 53
Sophia 51
Amy 50
Matilda 49
Julia 44
Eleanor 43
Elizth. 43
Ruth 40
Minnie 36
Nancy 36
Beatrice 34
Lizzie 33
Lydia 32

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Bradley surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
John 1,472
William 1,388
Thomas 843
James 730
George 723
Joseph 512
Henry 436
Charles 380
Robert 283
Edward 225
Samuel 198
Richard 192
Arthur 186
Alfred 181
Walter 174
Frederick 163
Albert 131
Harry 119
Frank 117
Benjamin 97
Francis 97
Herbert 95
David 87
Edwin 73
Wm. 71
Ernest 68
Fred 67
Peter 62
Isaac 61
Tom 61
Thos. 60
Michael 54
Daniel 52
Patrick 42
Geo. 39
Stephen 37
Mark 32
Edmund 31
Chas. 30
Abraham 27
Alexander 23
Matthew 23
Jesse 22
Andrew 20
Hugh 20
Eli 19
Fredrick 19
Joshua 18
Percy 18
Jonathan 17

FAQ

Bradley surname: questions and answers

How common was the Bradley surname in 1881?

In 1881, 24,034 people were recorded with the Bradley surname. That placed it at #139 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Bradley surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 39,063 in 2016. That gives Bradley a modern rank of #127.

What does the Bradley surname mean?

An English locational surname derived from various places meaning "broad clearing" or "wide wood" in Old English.

What does the Bradley map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Bradley bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.