Barney
Diminutive form of the male name Barnabas, meaning "son of consolation".
Name Census estimates that about 6,428 living Americans carry the first name Barney. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Barney today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Barney births was 1919 (304 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Barney. 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
- • Although Barney is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 91 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Barney is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Barneys were born before 1968.
People living today
6.4K
~ 1 in 53,322 Americans
Peak year
1919
304 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,666
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Barney
Out of the 16,176 babies given the name Barney since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Barney as a male name
- Ranked #9,997 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1919 (304 births)
Barney as a female name
- Ranked #6,666 in 1963
- 5 female births in 1963
- Peak: 1923 (8 births)
Popularity
Barney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Barney from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 2,684 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Barney 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 Barney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Barneys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Barney, while Nebraska, Montana, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 294 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Barney
The name Barney has its origins in the Olde English language and is derived from the word "beorn", which means "warrior" or "bear-like man". It first emerged in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
One of the earliest known references to the name Barney can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. It records a landowner named "Barnewinus" in Worcestershire, England.
The name Barney gained popularity during the Middle Ages, often given to individuals with a strong or imposing physical presence. It was commonly spelled as "Barney" or "Barnaby" during this time. A notable figure from this era was Barnaby Fitzpatrick, an Irish chieftain born around 1260 who led a rebellion against the English in 1315.
In the 16th century, the name Barney appeared in literary works, such as William Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors", where a character named "Dromio of Ephesus" refers to another character as "Barney".
One of the most famous individuals named Barney in history was Barney Ross, an American professional boxer born in 1909. Ross was a world champion in three weight classes and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1957.
Another notable Barney was Barney Oldfield, an American pioneer automobile racer and pioneer of the Indianapolis 500. He was born in 1878 and was one of the first celebrities in the automotive industry.
In the 20th century, the name Barney gained further recognition with the character Barney Rubble from the popular animated series "The Flintstones". Although a fictional character, Barney Rubble helped popularize the name among younger generations.
Other notable figures named Barney include Barney Frank, an American politician and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, born in 1940; Barney Kessel, an American jazz guitarist and pioneer of the guitar amplifier, born in 1923; and Barney Ross, an American professional boxer and World War II marine, born in 1924.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Barney
People
Barney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Barney 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
Barney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Barney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,428 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Barney 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 53,322 US residents.
Is Barney a common name?
We classify Barney as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,176 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Barney most popular?
The single biggest year for Barney was 1919, when 304 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Barney is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Barney a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Barney 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.