Berkleigh
A feminine name derived from the English place name Berkeley, meaning "meadow of birch trees".
Name Census estimates that about 676 living Americans carry the first name Berkleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berkleigh today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berkleigh births was 2019 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berkleigh. 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
676
~ 1 in 507,033 Americans
Peak year
2019
69 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,962
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Berkleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berkleigh 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 325 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berkleigh 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 Berkleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berkleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, Indiana, Virginia recorded the most babies named Berkleigh, while Ohio, Kansas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berkleigh
The name Berkleigh has its origins rooted in the Old English language, emerging during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century AD. It is derived from the combination of two ancient words: "beorce," meaning birch tree, and "leah," which refers to a meadow or clearing in a forest. This suggests that the name originally denoted a person who lived near or was associated with a meadow or clearing surrounded by birch trees.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Berkleigh can be found in the Domesday Book, a detailed survey of landowners and properties commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a landowner named Berkleigh who held estates in the county of Berkshire, which itself is believed to have been named after the numerous birch trees that grew in the region.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Berkleigh remained relatively uncommon, but it gained more prominence during the Renaissance period. One notable figure from this era was Berkleigh Montague, a renowned English poet and playwright born in 1568. His works, which included sonnets and tragedies, were widely acclaimed during his lifetime and influenced many subsequent writers.
In the 17th century, Berkleigh Fitzhugh was a prominent English lawyer and judge who served as the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1625 to 1634. His legal rulings and interpretations of the law were highly regarded and helped shape the development of English common law.
Crossing over to the New World, Berkleigh Winthrop was a notable figure in the early colonial history of North America. Born in 1588, he was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and served as its first governor from 1630 to 1649. His leadership and vision were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the colony.
In more recent history, Berkleigh Hawthorne was a renowned American novelist and short story writer who lived from 1804 to 1864. He is best known for his works such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables," which explored themes of sin, guilt, and the human condition. Hawthorne's literary contributions have had a lasting impact on American literature.
People
Berkleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berkleigh 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
Berkleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berkleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 676 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berkleigh 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 507,033 US residents.
Is Berkleigh a common name?
We classify Berkleigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 681 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berkleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Berkleigh was 2019, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berkleigh is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Berkleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berkleigh 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.