This is an Anglo-Scottish surname. The Old English forms of brad means ‘broad’ and leah means ‘woodland clearing’. The name is located in many places throughout England named Bradley. In Scotland, the name comes from ‘Braidlie’ which is in Roxburghshire.
Other spellings of the surname include: Braudly, Broadley, Bruidley, Braidley, Breadley, Bradlie and Bradeley.

Bradleys in the United States are located in Massachusetts, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York. In England the surname is centrally located especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire counties.

Most Bradley families worked as farmers in 1880s.

Famous: Omar N. Bradley (Five-star American general during World War Two), Milton Bradley (American game board pioneer), Will H. Bradley (Art Nouveau illustrator and artist), James Bradley (English astronomer), Ed Bradley (journalist), Scott Bradley (composer, pianist and conductor), Doug Bradley (English actor), Abraham Bradley Jr. (First Assistant Postmaster-General of the U.S), W. C. Bradley (entrepreneur and Coca-Cola chairman), Tom Bradley (Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1973 to 1993), Alex Bradley (professional basketball player) and Ryan Bradley (professional figure skater).