Berkli
An English given name derived from the English place name Berkley.
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Berkli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berkli today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berkli births was 2015 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berkli. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Berkli. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
2015
10 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2021 SSA rank
#15,627
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Berkli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berkli from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 23 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Berkli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berkli 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 Berkli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berkli
The name Berkli is believed to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon culture of England during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "beorc" meaning "birch" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing". The name likely referred to someone who lived near a birch meadow or clearing.
One of the earliest known records of the name Berkli dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, a survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Berchelei", which was likely a place name that later evolved into a personal name.
In the 12th century, a prominent figure named Berkli de Mowbray was recorded in historical documents related to the Norman noble family of Mowbray. He was a knight and landowner who fought in the Crusades.
During the Renaissance period, a scholar and theologian named Berkli Trevilian (1490-1564) gained recognition for his writings on religious philosophy and his translations of ancient Greek texts.
In the 17th century, Berkli Symonds (1617-1692) was a notable English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament and was involved in the English Civil War.
Another historical figure with the name Berkli was Berkli Haviland (1718-1789), a British explorer and cartographer who charted parts of the Pacific Ocean and the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
Throughout its history, the name Berkli has been used primarily in English-speaking countries, although it has also appeared in various spellings in other cultures influenced by Anglo-Saxon and British traditions.
People
Berkli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berkli 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
Berkli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berkli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berkli 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Berkli a common name?
We classify Berkli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berkli most popular?
The single biggest year for Berkli was 2015, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berkli is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Berkli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berkli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berkli 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 Berkli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berkli 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 Berkli 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Berkli?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Berkli on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.