Berna
A feminine given name of uncertain meaning and origin.
Name Census estimates that about 496 living Americans carry the first name Berna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berna today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berna births was 1929 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berna. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Berna with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Berna is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bernas were born before 1963.
People living today
496
~ 1 in 691,037 Americans
Peak year
1929
48 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1991 SSA rank
#13,390
Tracked since 1895
Census
Berna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,455 people with the first name Berna, which placed it at #9,513 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,513
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,455 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Berna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berna is White at 50.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.5%) and Black (11.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Berna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Berna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.9% · 740
- Hispanic or Latino27.5% · 400
- Black or African American11.2% · 163
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 98
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 30
- Two or more races1.6% · 24
Popularity
Berna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berna from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 308 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berna 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 Berna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bernas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Berna, while New York, Kansas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berna
The given name Berna has its origins rooted in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "bernaccia," which means "a cloak or long robe." This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with individuals who wore distinctive cloaks or robes, perhaps as a symbol of their profession or social status.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Berna can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who lived between 59 BC and 17 AD. He mentions a woman named Berna in his historical accounts, although details about her life and the significance of her name are scarce.
During the Middle Ages, the name Berna was relatively uncommon but not entirely unheard of. It appeared sporadically in various European regions, particularly in Italy and parts of what is now Germany. One notable figure bearing this name was Berna of Reichenau, a Benedictine abbess who lived in the 10th century and was renowned for her piety and leadership of the Reichenau Abbey in present-day Germany.
In the Renaissance period, the name Berna gained some popularity among Italian families, possibly due to its Latin roots and association with the cloak or robe. One notable individual from this era was Berna Sanseverino, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 15th century and was known for her literary talents and patronage of the arts.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, the name Berna resurfaced in certain regions of Europe, particularly in Germany and Switzerland. One prominent figure was Berna Büchi, a Swiss artist and painter who lived from 1848 to 1929 and was celebrated for her landscape paintings depicting the Swiss countryside.
Another noteworthy individual was Berna Vogt, a German writer and journalist who lived from 1863 to 1942. She was known for her works exploring social issues and advocating for women's rights and education.
While the name Berna has never been among the most popular given names in modern times, it has maintained a niche presence in various cultures and regions, particularly those with ties to its Latin and European roots. Its unique history and association with cloaks or robes make it a distinctive and intriguing name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Berna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berna 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
Berna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 496 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berna 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 691,037 US residents.
Is Berna a common name?
We classify Berna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,466 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berna most popular?
The single biggest year for Berna was 1929, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berna is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Berna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,455 people with the name Berna, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,513 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Berna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Berna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Berna leans strongly female. 1,324 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 122 male bearers (8.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Berna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berna is White at 50.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.5%) and Black (11.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Berna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Berna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.9% (740 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Berna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berna 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 Berna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berna 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 Berna 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.
How many Americans are named Berna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.