Bari
A given name meaning great or strong in Turkish.
Name Census estimates that about 1,581 living Americans carry the first name Bari. It is a predominantly female name (92.0% of registrations). The average person named Bari today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bari births was 1960 (78 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bari. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 216,796 Americans
Peak year
1960
78 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,060
Tracked since 1937
Census
Bari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,900 people with the first name Bari, which placed it at #7,839 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,839
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,900 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bari is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bari described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.6% · 1,588
- Black or African American9.2% · 175
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 39
- Two or more races1.7% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Bari
Bari leans heavily female at 92.0% of total registrations, but 158 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bari as a male name
- Ranked #9,060 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1961 (10 births)
Bari as a female name
- Ranked #12,324 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (78 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bari leans strongly female. 1,587 people counted with this name were female (83.8%), compared with 306 male bearers (16.2%).
Popularity
Bari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bari from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 536 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bari 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 Bari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Baris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Bari, while Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 70 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bari
The name Bari is believed to have its origins in the Indian subcontinent, deriving from the Sanskrit word "vairi" which means "enemy" or "opponent". It is also thought to be a variation of the name "Bari" which means "brave" or "courageous" in some Indian languages.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, the name Bari is mentioned as a warrior or a brave soldier. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the epic poem Mahabharata, where a character named Bari is described as a skilled archer and a fierce warrior.
The name Bari gained popularity in India during the medieval period, particularly among the warrior classes and nobles. One of the most famous historical figures with the name Bari was Bari Malik, a powerful military commander who served under the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century.
In the realm of Indian classical music, Bari Ghulam Ali Khan (1902-1968) was a renowned vocalist and a prominent figure in the Patiala gharana (musical lineage). His contribution to the preservation and promotion of Hindustani classical music is highly regarded.
Moving to the world of sports, Bari Aliyu (born 1980) is a Nigerian footballer who has represented his country in international competitions. He played as a striker for several clubs in Nigeria and abroad.
In the field of literature, Bari Siddiqi (1923-2010) was a prominent Urdu poet, playwright, and novelist from Pakistan. He was awarded the prestigious Pride of Performance award by the Pakistani government for his literary achievements.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Bari. While the name has its roots in the Indian subcontinent, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained recognition in various parts of the world.
People
Bari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bari 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
Bari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,581 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bari 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 216,796 US residents.
Is Bari a common name?
We classify Bari as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,964 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bari most popular?
The single biggest year for Bari was 1960, when 78 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bari is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,900 people with the name Bari, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,839 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bari in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bari leans strongly female. 1,587 people counted with this name were female (83.8%), compared with 306 male bearers (16.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bari is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bari most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (1,588 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Bari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bari a female name?
Yes, 92.0% of people registered as Bari in the SSA data are female. 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 Bari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bari 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 Bari 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.
How many people have Bari as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.