Berit
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "bright" or "to shine".
Name Census estimates that about 638 living Americans carry the first name Berit. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berit today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berit births was 2006 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berit. 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
638
~ 1 in 537,233 Americans
Peak year
2006
25 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,629
Tracked since 1958
Popularity
Berit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berit from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 181 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Berit remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berit 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 Berit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berits live
Origin
Meaning and history of Berit
Berit is a feminine given name of Norse origin, derived from the Old Norse word "Bera," which means "to bear" or "to carry." It was a popular name in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, particularly in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
The name Berit is believed to have been first recorded in the 9th century AD, during the height of the Viking era. It was a common name among Norse women, especially those from noble or wealthy families. The name was often associated with strength, resilience, and the ability to endure hardships.
One of the earliest known references to the name Berit can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of historical narratives and stories from the Viking Age. The Sagas mention several women named Berit, including Berit Arnorsdottir, a 10th-century Icelandic noblewoman.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Berit. One of the most famous was Berit Wallenberg (1924-2021), a Swedish humanitarian who worked tirelessly to rescue Jews from the Holocaust during World War II. She was the sister of the renowned Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
Another notable Berit was Berit Åsland (1936-2021), a Norwegian politician and diplomat who served as the first female Secretary-General of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1997.
In the world of arts and literature, Berit Hildre (1825-1890) was a Norwegian poet and novelist who wrote extensively about the lives of working-class women in Norway during the 19th century.
Berit Lindholm (1924-2018) was a Finnish actress and director who had a long and successful career in both film and theater. She was best known for her roles in several Finnish films during the 1950s and 1960s.
Berit Berthelsen (1944-2021) was a Greenlandic politician and activist who played a crucial role in the movement for Greenland's independence from Denmark. She served as the first female Prime Minister of Greenland from 1979 to 1980.
People
Berit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berit 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
Berit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 638 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berit 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 537,233 US residents.
Is Berit a common name?
We classify Berit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 670 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berit most popular?
The single biggest year for Berit was 2006, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berit is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Berit a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berit 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.
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.