Berkeley
A masculine name of English origin meaning "meadow of birch trees".
Name Census estimates that about 2,603 living Americans carry the first name Berkeley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Berkeley today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berkeley births was 2016 (133 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berkeley. 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
- • Berkeley started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 131,677 Americans
Peak year
2016
133 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,382
Tracked since 1913
Gender
Gender distribution for Berkeley
Berkeley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,892 total registrations, 890 (30.8%) were male and 2,002 (69.2%) were female.
Berkeley as a male name
- Ranked #10,006 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (21 births)
Berkeley as a female name
- Ranked #2,382 in 2024
- 76 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (119 births)
Popularity
Berkeley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berkeley from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,137 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Berkeley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berkeley 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 Berkeley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berkeleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, California, Virginia recorded the most babies named Berkeley, while Tennessee, South Carolina, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berkeley
The name Berkeley is an Old English given name with origins tracing back to the 8th century. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "berc" meaning birch tree and "leah" meaning meadow or clearing, essentially translating to "meadow of birch trees." This name was commonly used in areas of England where birch trees were prevalent, particularly in the West Country region.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Berkeley dates back to the 9th century, appearing in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This historical record documents a battle fought in 835 AD between the forces of King Egbert of Wessex and the Britons, referencing a location called "Berclea."
In the 11th century, the name gained prominence with the rise of the Berkeley family, a noble English house that took their surname from the town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire. Robert FitzHarding, born in 1092, was a prominent member of this family and is considered one of the earliest examples of the name Berkeley being used as a given name.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Berkeley was associated with several notable individuals. One such figure was Thomas de Berkeley, born in 1245, who served as Lord of Berkeley and fought in the Barons' War against King Henry III. Another was Maurice de Berkeley, born in 1330, who served as a knight and fought in the Hundred Years' War.
During the Renaissance period, the name Berkeley continued to be used, particularly among the English gentry and nobility. One notable bearer of the name was Sir William Berkeley, born in 1605, who served as the Governor of Virginia during the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, the name Berkeley gained philosophical significance with the renowned philosopher George Berkeley, born in 1685. He is best known for his theory of immaterialism, which holds that physical objects exist only in the mind.
Other notable individuals with the first name Berkeley include the American architect Berkeley Bunbury, born in 1861, and the British artist Berkeley Sutcliffe, born in 1904.
People
Berkeley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berkeley 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
Berkeley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berkeley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berkeley 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 131,677 US residents.
Is Berkeley a common name?
We classify Berkeley as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,892 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berkeley most popular?
The single biggest year for Berkeley was 2016, when 133 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berkeley is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Berkeley a female name?
Yes, 69.2% of people registered as Berkeley 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.