Byrl
A variant spelling of the English masculine name Beryl meaning "precious green gemstone".
Name Census estimates that about 107 living Americans carry the first name Byrl. It is a predominantly male name (91.0% of registrations). The average person named Byrl today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Byrl births was 1920 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Byrl. 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 Byrl is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Byrls were born before 1953.
People living today
107
~ 1 in 3,203,312 Americans
Peak year
1920
30 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1958 SSA rank
#2,852
Tracked since 1907
Census
Byrl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 176 people with the first name Byrl, which placed it at #41,537 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
#41,537
National first-name rank
People counted
176
176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Byrl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Byrl is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.3%). 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 Byrl 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 Byrl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.1% · 155
- Black or African American6.3% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 4
- Two or more races2.3% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Byrl
Byrl leans heavily male at 91.0% of total registrations, but 53 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Byrl as a male name
- Ranked #2,852 in 1958
- 9 male births in 1958
- Peak: 1917 (24 births)
Byrl as a female name
- Ranked #4,414 in 1931
- 5 female births in 1931
- Peak: 1919 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Byrl leans strongly male. 144 people counted with this name were male (82.3%), compared with 31 female bearers (17.7%).
Popularity
Byrl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Byrl from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 195 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
Byrl 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 Byrl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Byrls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Byrl
The given name Byrl is an English variant of the name Beryl, which has its origins in the Old French and Middle English period. The name is derived from the Greek word "beryllos," which refers to the precious gemstone beryl. The name was likely inspired by the green color of the beryl gemstone, which was highly prized in ancient times.
Beryl was originally a masculine name, but over time, it became more commonly used as a feminine name. The earliest recorded use of the name Byrl dates back to the late 19th century in parts of the United States, particularly in the southern states. It was likely a regional variation of the name Beryl, possibly influenced by local dialects and accents.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Byrl can be found in the 1880 United States Federal Census, where a few individuals were listed with this name. However, the name remained relatively uncommon throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In terms of historical figures bearing the name Byrl, one notable person was Byrl Houck (1905-1972), an American golfer who competed in the U.S. Open and other professional tournaments in the 1930s and 1940s. Another individual was Byrl Whittington (1901-1965), an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago White Sox in the 1920s.
Other historical figures with the name Byrl include Byrl Roberts (1906-1992), an American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Miami, Florida, in the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, Byrl Shubert (1916-1994) was an American educator and writer who authored several books on education and child development.
Lastly, Byrl Briscoe (1912-1997) was an American artist and painter known for his landscape and wildlife paintings, particularly those depicting scenes from the American West. His works were exhibited in various art galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Byrl has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these individuals have left their mark in various fields, contributing to the cultural and historical significance of this unique name.
People
Byrl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Byrl 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
Byrl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Byrl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 107 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Byrl 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 3,203,312 US residents.
Is Byrl a common name?
We classify Byrl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 586 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Byrl most popular?
The single biggest year for Byrl was 1920, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Byrl is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Byrl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 176 people with the name Byrl, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,537 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 Byrl 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 Byrl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Byrl leans strongly male. 144 people counted with this name were male (82.3%), compared with 31 female bearers (17.7%). 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 Byrl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Byrl is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.3%). 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 Byrl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Byrl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.1% (155 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 Byrl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Byrl a male name?
Yes, 91.0% of people registered as Byrl 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 Byrl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Byrl 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 Byrl 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 Byrl?
You can see how many people share the name Byrl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.