Beronica
A feminine name derived from Greek meaning "bringer of victory".
Name Census estimates that about 946 living Americans carry the first name Beronica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Beronica today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beronica births was 1979 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beronica. 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
946
~ 1 in 362,320 Americans
Peak year
1979
56 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2007 SSA rank
#14,151
Tracked since 1966
Census
Beronica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,325 people with the first name Beronica, which placed it at #10,165 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
#10,165
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,325 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
83.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beronica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beronica is Hispanic at 83.8%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and Black (6.0%). 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 Beronica 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 Beronica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino83.8% · 1,111
- White8.5% · 113
- Black or African American6.0% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 9
- Two or more races0.5% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 6
Popularity
Beronica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beronica from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 343 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beronica 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 Beronica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Beronicas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Beronica, while New York, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 113 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Beronica
The name Beronica is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, though it is believed to have roots in ancient Germanic or Celtic languages. Some scholars suggest it may be derived from the Old German word "bero," meaning "bear," combined with a suffix like "-ica" or "-onica." Others trace it back to the Celtic word "bern," meaning "brave" or "valiant."
In early medieval times, variations of the name, such as Beronica, Beronike, and Veronique, appeared in various regions of Europe, including France, Germany, and the British Isles. It is possible that the name was introduced to these areas by migrating Germanic or Celtic tribes during the period of the great migrations in the 4th to 6th centuries AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Beronica can be found in the 8th-century Frankish chronicle known as the Liber Historiae Francorum, where it is mentioned as the name of a Frankish noblewoman. The name also appears in several medieval hagiographies and religious texts, suggesting it may have been adopted by early Christian communities.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Beronica. In the 11th century, Beronica of Barcelona (1015-1064) was a powerful Countess of Barcelona who played a significant role in the political and cultural life of Catalonia. Centuries later, Beronica Gagern (1801-1888) was a German writer and salon hostess who hosted influential literary and intellectual gatherings in Frankfurt.
In the 19th century, Beronica Beecher (1800-1878), an American educator and activist, was a prominent figure in the women's rights movement and a staunch advocate for educational reform. Another notable figure was Beronica Fröhlich (1853-1921), an Austrian painter and one of the first female artists to gain recognition in the male-dominated art world of her time.
More recently, Beronica Bédard (1919-2010) was a Canadian actress and singer who had a long and successful career in both English and French-language productions, appearing in numerous films, television shows, and stage productions throughout the 20th century.
While the name Beronica has waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, its rich history and diverse cultural influences have contributed to its enduring presence as a feminine given name.
People
Beronica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beronica 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
Beronica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beronica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 946 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beronica 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 362,320 US residents.
Is Beronica a common name?
We classify Beronica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,010 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beronica most popular?
The single biggest year for Beronica was 1979, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beronica is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Beronica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,325 people with the name Beronica, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,165 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 Beronica 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 Beronica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beronica appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,328 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Beronica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beronica is Hispanic at 83.8%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and Black (6.0%). 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 Beronica most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Beronica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (1,111 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 Beronica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Beronica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Beronica 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 Beronica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Beronica 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 Beronica 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 named Beronica?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Beronica, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.