Barrett
Masculine · “most likely 'strife”
Barrett is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 33,425 boys against 992 girls since 1880. See Barrett as a girl name
Barrett began as an English byname, the kind of tag neighbors gave each other in the Middle Ages, and it traveled the long road from surname to first name that gave English so many of its boys' names. It has the plain double-stop sound of that tradition — two clipped syllables, nothing to soften — and it is familiar to American ears from the surname of the nineteenth-century poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
How old is the name Barrett?
Barrett first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Barrett is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 32,000 people named Barrett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Barrett most popular?
Barrett peaked in 2025, reaching #171 nationally. Today it ranks #171, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From barat (Old French: trouble, deception) to Barrett
The story of Barrett
Barrett is an English and Hiberno-Norman surname first, recorded in medieval England and carried to Ireland by Norman settler families who put down deep roots in Cork and Mayo, where the name became Bairéad in Irish. Like Bennett, Everett and Garrett, it belongs to a group of surnames built on the same clipped two-syllable pattern, and like them it slid into use as a given name once English-speaking families began naming sons after mothers' maiden names and family lines. In the United States it appeared as a first name in the nineteenth century and stayed quietly available for generations before the current surname-name fashion found it. Its real growth is very recent: nearly everyone carrying it today is still a child.
Meaningscholars disagree
most likely 'strife, quarrel, deception'
The main reading traces it to Middle English and Old French 'barat', meaning trouble, contention or trickery — a nickname for an argumentative person. Two other explanations compete: a worn-down English form of the Germanic name Bernard ('bear' plus 'brave, hardy'), and a Middle English word for a cap or beret, applied to someone who wore or made one. Surname scholars have never fully settled between them.
How the name formed
- baratOld French: trouble, deception
- Barat / BaretMiddle English byname
- BarrettEnglish and Hiberno-Norman surname
- Barrettgiven name
Related forms: Bairéad · Barret · Barat
Pronouncing Barrett
BAIR-it
Stress on the first syllable. Rhymes with 'carrot' and 'parrot' in most American accents. The spelling gives the sound away, so it rarely needs repeating.
Nicknames for Barrett
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 20252,138 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #171reached in 2025
- Change vs 2023
- +19.6%2,138 in 2025, from 1,787
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Barrett in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bairéad in Irish — related form
- Barret in English — spelling variant
- Barat in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, California.
Barretts among us
people named Barrett are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 799 born in 2025 was named Barrett
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Leland test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Barrett's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Leland climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Leland's path sketches the road Barrett is walking now.
Barrett sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Barrett is headed
Barrett should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Barrett beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Barrett in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The spelling is already familiar to Americans as a surname, so it is written correctly by most people on the first try.
- Pronunciation is unambiguous from the page — two syllables, stress in front, no regional variants to correct.
- It has an established short form in Barry, plus room for informal ones, without requiring any of them.
- Documented in English use since the Middle Ages and in American given-name records since the nineteenth century — a long, unbroken paper trail.
- Used on both sides of the Irish Sea, with a native Irish form in Bairéad for families who want that link.
- The leading reading of the meaning is 'strife' or 'trickery' — medieval bynames were often unkind. If a flattering meaning matters to you, this one will need the Bernard reading or none at all.
- The single-r Barret exists, so expect an occasional correction, and Barrett is also heard as a surname first — some people will assume it is the last name on a form.
- Its growth is recent enough that almost everyone carrying it now is young. That means little company in a classroom, but also that the name currently reads as contemporary rather than inherited.
- Barry, the natural short form, sits with a much older generation. Some families love that; others quietly steer away from it.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Barrett
Masculine · #171 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Barretts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 32,000 people named Barrett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Barrett in 2025?
- Barrett ranks #171 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,138 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Barrett?
- About 1 in every 799 US boys born in 2025 was named Barrett — 2,138 in all.
- Will my child share the name Barrett with classmates?
- Barrett will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Barrett
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Braxton#172 · Matias#170 · Jesus#173 · Jett#169 · Nico#174 · Beckham#168 · Jayce#167 · Felix#175
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Barrett? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Barrett and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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