Berenise
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "bringer of victory".
Name Census estimates that about 626 living Americans carry the first name Berenise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berenise today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berenise births was 1993 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berenise. 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
626
~ 1 in 547,531 Americans
Peak year
1993
45 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2015 SSA rank
#16,859
Tracked since 1976
Census
Berenise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 531 people with the first name Berenise, which placed it at #19,755 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
#19,755
National first-name rank
People counted
531
531 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Berenise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berenise is Hispanic at 97.2%. The next largest groups are Black (1.5%) and White (1.3%). 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 Berenise 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 Berenise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.2% · 516
- Black or African American1.5% · 8
- White1.3% · 7
Popularity
Berenise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berenise from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 299 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berenise 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 Berenise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berenises live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Berenise, while Illinois, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 100 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berenise
The name Berenise originates from the Greek language, with roots dating back to ancient Greece. It is a feminine form of the name Berenice, which traces its origins to the ancient Macedonian language spoken in parts of Greece and the surrounding regions.
The name Berenice itself is derived from the Greek word "phereniké," which means "the bringer of victory." This suggests that the name was originally associated with strength, success, and triumph, perhaps given to children with the hope of bestowing these qualities upon them.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Berenice is found in the Bible's Book of Acts, where a woman named Berenice is mentioned as the wife of King Herod Agrippa II, who ruled over parts of ancient Judea in the 1st century AD.
In ancient Greek history, the name Berenice was borne by several notable figures, including Berenice I, the wife of Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian ruler who founded the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt. Another famous Berenice was Berenice II, the daughter of Ptolemy III Euergetes and Berenice I, who ruled as co-regent of Egypt in the 3rd century BC.
Moving forward in time, the name Berenise gained prominence during the Byzantine Empire, where it was used by members of the imperial family and nobility. One such example is Berenise of Lecce, a Byzantine noblewoman who lived in the 11th century and was the wife of Robert Guiscard, a Norman noble and adventurer.
In medieval Europe, the name Berenise was sometimes used as a variant of the more common name Berengaria or Berenguela. One notable figure with this name was Berengaria of Navarre, who was born in 1165 and became the wife of King Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart.
Another historical figure with the name Berenise was Berenise of Portugal, a 13th-century Portuguese noblewoman who was the daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Queen Urraca of Castile.
Throughout history, the name Berenise has been used across various cultures and regions, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. Its enduring presence reflects the name's rich heritage and the diverse influences that have shaped its evolution over time.
People
Berenise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berenise 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
Berenise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berenise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 626 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berenise 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 547,531 US residents.
Is Berenise a common name?
We classify Berenise as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 645 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berenise most popular?
The single biggest year for Berenise was 1993, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berenise is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Berenise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 531 people with the name Berenise, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,755 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 Berenise 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 Berenise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Berenise appears almost entirely female. Of the 530 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Berenise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berenise is Hispanic at 97.2%. The next largest groups are Black (1.5%) and White (1.3%). 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 Berenise most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Berenise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.2% (516 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 Berenise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berenise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berenise 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 Berenise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berenise 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 Berenise 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 Americans are named Berenise?
You can see how many Americans are named Berenise on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.