Berne
Of Swiss-German origin, a masculine given name relating to bern meaning "bear".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Berne. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Berne today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berne births was 1931 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berne. 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
- • The typical person named Berne is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bernes were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Berne. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1931
7 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1954 SSA rank
#3,874
Tracked since 1915
Census
Berne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 149 people with the first name Berne, which placed it at #45,514 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
#45,514
National first-name rank
People counted
149
149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Berne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berne is White at 59.7%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Berne 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 Berne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.7% · 89
- Black or African American24.2% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino9.4% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 7
- Two or more races2.0% · 3
Popularity
Berne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berne from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Berne remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berne 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 Berne 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 Berne
The name Berne is believed to have originated from the Old German language. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "bernô," which means "bear." This name has its roots in the ancient Germanic tribes that inhabited parts of what is now Germany and Switzerland.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Berne was particularly popular among the Alamanni, a Germanic tribe that settled in the area around modern-day Switzerland. They founded the city of Bern, which is thought to have been named after the bear as well, further solidifying the connection between the name and this animal.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Berne can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a famous medieval German epic poem dating back to around the 13th century. In this work, Berne is mentioned as the name of a warrior.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Berne. One of the earliest was Berne of Reichenau (circa 970-1048), a Benedictine monk and scholar from the Reichenau Abbey in present-day Germany. He was renowned for his contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and music theory.
Another prominent figure was Berne of Cluny (circa 1020-1109), a Benedictine abbot and reformer who played a significant role in the Cluniac Reforms, a major monastic movement of the 11th century.
In the 15th century, Berne Kathrin (1414-1439) was a German mystic and Dominican nun who gained recognition for her visions and religious writings.
During the Renaissance, Berne Xenophon (1510-1590) was a Greek scholar and philosopher who taught at the University of Padua in Italy. He was known for his translations and commentaries on ancient Greek texts.
In more recent times, Berne Grunwald (1919-2010) was a German-American artist and sculptor who gained recognition for his abstract expressionist works.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Berne, which has its roots in the ancient Germanic languages and has been associated with the bear, a revered animal in many cultures.
People
Berne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berne 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
Berne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berne 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Berne a common name?
We classify Berne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 48 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berne most popular?
The single biggest year for Berne was 1931, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berne is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Berne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 149 people with the name Berne, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,514 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 Berne 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 Berne?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Berne on both sides of the split. Of the 152 people counted with this name, 117 were male (77.0%) and 35 were female (23.0%). 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 Berne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berne is White at 59.7%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Berne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Berne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.7% (89 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 Berne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berne a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berne in the SSA data are male. 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 Berne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berne 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 Berne 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 people are called Berne?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.