Brad is a shortened form of the name Bradley, Bradly, Bradie, Bradford or Braddeus.
Brad is also used as a full name and not a shortened version of another.
Brad (fastener), a traditional name for a kind of fastener. It is now used for a variety of different fasteners, including: Certain types of wire nails; for example, the elliptical nails used to avoid splitting the grain of softwood are called oval brads. Split-lip brass fasteners, which are brass or brass-coloured, round-head, dual-pronged paper fasteners, often used to hold screenplays together, are also known as brads.
Brad, like other Irish derivatives of Bran such as Bram, Brian, Brady, and Brendan refer to Bran the giant, who in various incarnations is featured in several tales of Irish and Scottish mythology. He was in some tales a giant raven who attacked Ireland, in others a man-eating giant.