Baren
A masculine German name meaning "bear".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Baren. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Baren today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Baren births was 2022 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Baren. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Baren. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2022
6 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,035
Tracked since 2011
Popularity
Baren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Baren from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Baren 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 Baren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Baren
The given name Baren originates from the Slavic language family, particularly from the East Slavic branch. It is believed to have derived from the Old Russian word "baran," which means "ram" or "sheep." The name's roots can be traced back to the 9th or 10th century, during the early medieval period of Eastern Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Baren can be found in the Laurentian Codex, a medieval Russian chronicle dating back to the 14th century. The chronicle mentions a nobleman named Baren Dmitrievich, who lived in the late 12th century and served as a military commander under Grand Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest of Vladimir-Suzdal.
In the 16th century, a prominent figure named Baren Ivanovich Sheleshpansky was a Russian diplomat and military leader during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. He played a crucial role in the Russo-Crimean Wars and was known for his military prowess and strategic acumen.
Another notable historical figure with the name Baren was Baren Jakovlevich Cherkasky, a Russian nobleman and military commander who lived in the 17th century. He participated in several military campaigns against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire, earning a reputation as a skilled tactician and brave warrior.
In the 18th century, Baren Ivanovich Stroganov, a member of the influential Stroganov family, was a prominent Russian industrialist and landowner. He was instrumental in the development of the Ural region and played a significant role in the growth of the Russian mining and metallurgical industries.
Baren Aleksandrovich Chernyshev, a Russian general and statesman who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was another notable figure with this given name. He served as a military commander during the Napoleonic Wars and later became a prominent diplomat, representing Russia in various international negotiations and treaties.
While the name Baren has its roots in the Slavic language family, it has also been adopted and used in various other cultures and regions over the centuries, albeit with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Baren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Baren 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
Baren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Baren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Baren 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Baren a common name?
We classify Baren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Baren most popular?
The single biggest year for Baren was 2022, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Baren is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Baren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Baren a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Baren 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.
Is Baren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Baren in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Baren can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Baren?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.