Barak
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "lightning" or "lightning bolt".
Name Census estimates that about 885 living Americans carry the first name Barak. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Barak today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Barak births was 2006 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Barak. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
885
~ 1 in 387,293 Americans
Peak year
2006
29 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,247
Tracked since 1953
Popularity
Barak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Barak from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 214 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Barak by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Barak during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Baraks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Barak, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Barak
The name Barak has its origin in the Hebrew language, deriving from the word "barak" which means "lightning" or "to kneel". This name first appeared in ancient Semitic cultures around the Middle East during the Bronze Age, roughly between 3300-1200 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Barak can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to a military leader named Barak ben Abinoam who fought against the Canaanite armies alongside the prophetess Deborah. This account is documented in the Book of Judges, which is believed to have been written between the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.
In the Islamic tradition, Barak is also mentioned as the name of one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. This Barak ibn Malik al-Ansari lived in the 7th century CE and is revered for his participation in various battles and his loyalty to the faith.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Barak. One of the earliest was Barak, a Parthian ruler who reigned over parts of modern-day Iran and Iraq in the 1st century BCE. Another was Barak ibn Malik, a 7th-century Arab military leader who played a significant role in the Muslim conquests of Syria and Palestine.
In more recent times, Barak has been the name of several important political figures, including Barak Obama, the 44th President of the United States (born 1961), and Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister of Israel (born 1942). Additionally, Barak Valley is a region in northeastern India named after the 17th-century Mughal military commander, Mir Jumla, whose given name was Barak.
Other notable individuals with the name Barak include Barak Bastani, an Iranian-American entrepreneur and author (born 1972), and Barak Braunstein, an American cellist and composer (born 1987).
People
Barak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Barak as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Barak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Barak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 885 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Barak going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 387,293 US residents.
Is Barak a common name?
We classify Barak as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 921 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Barak most popular?
The single biggest year for Barak was 2006, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Barak is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Barak a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Barak in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.