How rare is the name Barney?

5,991 people in the United States have the first name Barney, about 1 in 50,414. It ranks #3,466 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

BARNEY

#3,466

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,991
About
1 in 50,414
This common or more
82.4%
Who bears it

Of the 5,991 people named Barney, 73.8% reported their origin as White, 12.1% as Black and 6.6% as Hispanic or Latino. 98.7% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Barney peaked in 1919, when 304 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1919
Births that year
304
In 2025*
5 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 16,181 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Barney by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #488. The largest share of babies named Barney, 29.3%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#488535
1890s#593572
1900s#691595
1910s#6822,204
1920s#8082,440
1930s#8611,916
1940s#9322,185
1950s#9902,684
1960s#1,3841,608
1970s#2,293755
1980s#3,798430
1990s#8,939173
2000s#29,03130
2010s#27,55237
2020s#28,46817
Before 19017.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2729.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4521.9%
Baby boom 1946–6429.2%
Generation X 1965–808.4%
Millennials 1981–963.2%
Generation Z 1997–120.4%
2013 and later0.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Barney is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Barney has been most common in Mississippi (3.4×), Alabama (3.2×), and South Carolina (3.1×), and least common in Wisconsin (0.16×).

10,861 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Barney

1 other first name also has 5,991 people.

#3,466 Jia · 5,991

Either side of Barney

#3,464 Destini · 5,993#3,464 Luigi · 5,993#3,466 Jia · 5,991#3,468 Mister · 5,988

Also a last name

As a last name, Barney ranks #2,261 of 156,621, with 15,671 people. See Barney as a last name

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