Bera
A feminine Persian name meaning "noble" or "exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 18 living Americans carry the first name Bera. It is a predominantly female name (93.8% of registrations). The average person named Bera today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bera births was 1914 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bera. 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 Bera. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
18
~ 1 in 19,041,908 Americans
Peak year
1914
12 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2016 SSA rank
#6,149
Tracked since 1890
Census
Bera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 231 people with the first name Bera, which placed it at #35,041 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
#35,041
National first-name rank
People counted
231
231 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bera is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.9%) and Black (14.3%). 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 Bera 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 Bera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 128
- Hispanic or Latino19.9% · 46
- Black or African American14.3% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 15
- Two or more races2.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Bera
Bera leans heavily female at 93.8% of total registrations, but 12 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bera as a male name
- Ranked #10,913 in 2016
- 6 male births in 2016
- Peak: 2009 (6 births)
Bera as a female name
- Ranked #6,149 in 1957
- 5 female births in 1957
- Peak: 1914 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bera on both sides of the split. Of the 230 people counted with this name, 51 were male (22.2%) and 179 were female (77.8%).
Popularity
Bera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bera from the 1890s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 87 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bera 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 Bera 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 Bera
The name Bera has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "bera," which means "night" or "darkness." This name was likely given to children born at night or during a dark phase of the moon.
In Hindu mythology, Bera is also the name of a minor deity associated with the night and the moon. The earliest known mention of the name Bera can be found in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Rigveda and the Upanishads, dating back to around 1500–500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Bera was a philosopher and scholar who lived in the 6th century BCE in the ancient Indian kingdom of Magadha. He was known for his teachings on the concept of non-violence and is mentioned in Buddhist scriptures.
In the 4th century BCE, there was a famous Indian mathematician named Bera Acharya, who made significant contributions to the field of geometry and developed new methods for calculating the circumference of a circle.
During the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), a prominent military commander named Bera served under the reign of Emperor Ashoka. He is credited with leading several successful campaigns and helping to expand the empire's territories.
In the 12th century CE, a renowned poet and scholar named Bera Bhatta lived in the region of present-day Gujarat, India. He wrote extensively on various subjects, including literature, philosophy, and astronomy, and his works were widely studied and admired.
Another notable figure with the name Bera was a 16th-century Rajput warrior and chieftain from the region of Rajasthan, India. He was known for his bravery and leadership skills in battles against the Mughal Empire and is celebrated in local folklore and ballads.
While the name Bera has its roots in Sanskrit and ancient Indian culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, although with varying spellings and meanings. The name's association with the night and darkness has led to its interpretation and usage in different cultural contexts over the centuries.
People
Bera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bera 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
Bera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 18 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bera 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 19,041,908 US residents.
Is Bera a common name?
We classify Bera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 38.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 193 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bera most popular?
The single biggest year for Bera was 1914, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bera is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 231 people with the name Bera, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,041 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 Bera 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 Bera?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bera on both sides of the split. Of the 230 people counted with this name, 51 were male (22.2%) and 179 were female (77.8%). 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 Bera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bera is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.9%) and Black (14.3%). 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 Bera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (128 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 Bera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bera a female name?
Yes, 93.8% of people registered as Bera 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 Bera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bera 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 Bera 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 are called Bera?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.