How rare is the name Barry?

136,560 people in the United States have the first name Barry, about 1 in 2,212. It ranks #416 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BARRY

#416

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
136,560
About
1 in 2,212
This common or more
55%
Who bears it

Of the 136,560 people named Barry, 85% reported their origin as White, 10.1% as Black and 2.1% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Barry peaked in 1962, when 6,611 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18832025
Peak year
1962
Births that year
6,611
In 2025*
114 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 182,036 babies have been given the name since 1883. 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.

Barry by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #152. The largest share of babies named Barry, 57.4%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#2,08028
1890s#2,40838
1900s#2,27472
1910s#2,354244
1920s#1,572741
1930s#4406,671
1940s#16736,332
1950s#15255,008
1960s#16247,426
1970s#32317,351
1980s#49510,005
1990s#1,0664,234
2000s#2,1831,831
2010s#2,9371,326
2020s#3,117729
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4513.1%
Baby boom 1946–6457.4%
Generation X 1965–8019.9%
Millennials 1981–966.6%
Generation Z 1997–121.7%
2013 and later0.9%

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 Barry is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Barry has been most common in Pennsylvania (2.1×), Kentucky (1.6×), and Virginia (1.5×), and least common in Nevada (0.31×).

177,703 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.

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Barry, most common first.

Also a last name

As a last name, Barry ranks #708 of 156,621, with 47,279 people. See Barry as a last name

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