Bart
An English masculine name derived from an Old English word meaning "farmstead".
Name Census estimates that about 12,760 living Americans carry the first name Bart. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bart today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bart births was 1959 (1,022 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bart. 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
13K
~ 1 in 26,862 Americans
Peak year
1959
1,022 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,886
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Bart
Out of the 16,362 babies given the name Bart since 1880, 100.0% 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.
Bart as a male name
- Ranked #12,464 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1959 (1,022 births)
Bart as a female name
- Ranked #6,886 in 1967
- 5 female births in 1967
- Peak: 1967 (5 births)
Popularity
Bart: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bart from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 6,131 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
Bart 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 Bart during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Barts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Bart, while North Dakota, Hawaii, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 284 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bart
The name Bart is a diminutive or shortened form of the Germanic name Bartholomew, which is derived from the Aramaic bar-Talmay, meaning "son of the furrows" or "son of the plowed land." This suggests an agricultural connection or a reference to a rural or farming background.
The name Bartholomew has its roots in the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the time of the Roman Empire. It was brought to Europe through early Christian missionaries and became popular among the Germanic tribes who converted to Christianity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bartholomew appears in the New Testament of the Bible, where it is the name of one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. This association with a prominent biblical figure likely contributed to the name's widespread use throughout Christendom.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bartholomew was often shortened to Bart or Barto, particularly in Germanic-speaking regions. These diminutive forms gained popularity and became established as independent given names in their own right.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bart, including:
1. Bart van der Leck (1876-1958), a Dutch painter and one of the founders of the De Stijl art movement.
2. Bart Bok (1906-1983), a Dutch-American astronomer known for his contributions to the study of the Milky Way galaxy.
3. Bart Ehrman (born 1955), an American New Testament scholar and author of several books on early Christianity.
4. Bart Starr (1934-2019), an American professional football player and coach, best known as the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers during the Vince Lombardi era.
5. Bart Sibrel (born 1964), an American filmmaker and conspiracy theorist known for his controversial claims about the Moon landings.
While the name Bart has its origins in ancient languages and religious texts, it has evolved and taken on various forms and meanings over the centuries, becoming a popular and recognizable name in many cultures and societies.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bart
People
Bart + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bart 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
Bart: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bart?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,760 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bart 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 26,862 US residents.
Is Bart a common name?
We classify Bart as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,362 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bart most popular?
The single biggest year for Bart was 1959, when 1,022 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bart is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bart a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bart 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.