Berklee
A feminine given name derived from the name of the renowned Berklee College of Music.
Name Census estimates that about 1,208 living Americans carry the first name Berklee. It is a predominantly female name (97.8% of registrations). The average person named Berklee today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berklee births was 2018 (132 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berklee. 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
- • Berklee is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 283,737 Americans
Peak year
2018
132 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2019 SSA rank
#3,389
Tracked since 1992
Gender
Gender distribution for Berklee
Berklee leans heavily female at 97.8% of total registrations, but 27 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Berklee as a male name
- Ranked #10,956 in 2019
- 6 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2016 (6 births)
Berklee as a female name
- Ranked #3,389 in 2024
- 46 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (127 births)
Popularity
Berklee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berklee from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 704 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Berklee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berklee 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 Berklee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berklees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Georgia recorded the most babies named Berklee, while North Carolina, Louisiana, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berklee
The given name Berklee has its origins in the Old English language, where it was derived from the word "beorg," meaning "hill" or "mound." This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, between the 5th and 11th centuries.
The name Berklee was initially popularized in regions of England where Anglo-Saxon settlements were established, particularly in areas like Berkshire, which takes its name from the Old English "Bera-cū" meaning "Bera's hill." The name's connection to natural features like hills or mounds suggests it may have been used to describe someone who lived near or on a hill.
While there are no definitive historical references to the name Berklee in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in English parish records dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. One notable individual with this first name was Berklee Trotwood (1572-1647), an English landowner and member of the gentry from Somersetshire.
In the 18th century, Berklee Shaftesbury (1723-1796) was a prominent English philosopher and writer who made significant contributions to the field of moral philosophy. His works, such as "Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times," influenced the development of the Enlightenment movement.
During the 19th century, Berklee Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish novelist and essayist best known for works like "Treasure Island" and "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde." His literary contributions have had a lasting impact on the genres of adventure fiction and Gothic horror.
In the realm of music, Berklee Parker (1920-2005) was an American jazz composer and arranger who worked with notable artists like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He was a pioneer in the bebop and cool jazz movements and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1986.
Another notable figure was Berklee Hawking (1942-2018), the renowned English theoretical physicist and cosmologist who made groundbreaking discoveries in the study of black holes and the origins of the universe. His best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time," helped popularize complex scientific concepts for a wider audience.
People
Berklee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berklee 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
Berklee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berklee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,208 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berklee 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 283,737 US residents.
Is Berklee a common name?
We classify Berklee as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,218 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berklee most popular?
The single biggest year for Berklee was 2018, when 132 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berklee is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Berklee a female name?
Yes, 97.8% of people registered as Berklee 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.