Barbara Steele
There are approximately 208 people named Barbara Steele living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,647,857 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Barbara with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Steele. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
208
1 in 1,647,857
Named Barbara
694K
Alive today
Named Steele
103K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 694K
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 71
Estimated bearers: 103K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #355
Per 100K: 29.91
Top ancestry: White (78.3%)
First name trend
Barbara: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Barbara. The peak year was 1947 with 48,889 births. The average person named Barbara today is 71 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Steele surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Steele, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 78.3%.
- White78.3%
- Black or African American15.6%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.0%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Barbara has a living-bearer frequency of 0.2025% of the US population, based on 694,059 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Steele appears at a rate of 29.91 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0299%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 208 people with the full name Barbara Steele. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Barbara
Related
Other people with the surname Steele
FAQ
Barbara Steele: questions and answers
How many people are named Barbara Steele?
We estimate approximately 208 people in the United States share the full name Barbara Steele. That works out to about 1 in 1,647,857 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.2025%) with the surname frequency (29.91 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Barbara Steele?
We classify Barbara Steele as "Very Rare". About 1 in 1,647,857 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Barbara a male or female name?
Barbara is predominantly female. Out of 1,440,537 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Barbara profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.