Barrie
Masculine
Barrie is given to both — 1,337 boys and 1,708 girls since 1880. See Barrie as a girl nameSee other names given to both
The author who wrote Peter Pan gave the play's copyright away to a children's hospital, and it is still paying. He signed the rights over in 1929 and asked that the sums never be disclosed; when the copyright was due to expire, Parliament granted the hospital a right to royalties with no end date, which is a thing done for no other work in English law.
How old is the name Barrie?
Barrie first appears in US birth records in 1924 — 101 years ago. The typical Barrie alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 800 people named Barrie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Barrie most popular?
Barrie peaked in 1942, reaching #859 nationally. See the whole 1942 chart.
Where it comes from
From Barry to Barrie
The story of Barrie
The -ie ending reads as a woman's in English, and the record splits this spelling almost evenly, with girls slightly ahead. Marie, Julie, Annie, Sadie and Katie have made the closing -ie feel feminine to the point of instinct, and a name wearing it is filed that way by strangers before they have thought about it. Here the surname underneath pulls the other way, and the record shows the two signals meeting in the middle.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The surname is Scottish and its derivation is disputed. A place name, a form of an Irish personal name and a word about a barrier have all been proposed, and the given name may also be reached as a respelling of Barry.
How the name formed
- Barry
- Barrie
Pronouncing Barrie
BA-ree
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Both spellings are said identically, so the difference is entirely visual.
Nicknames for Barrie
Moderate
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
- 1924
- Most boys named
- 194752 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #859reached in 1942
- Change vs 1997
- −16.7%5 in 2022, from 6
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.
Barries among us
people named Barrie are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Barrie sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It carries a literary association that almost everybody recognizes.
- The sound is completely settled and never needs a second attempt.
- It works across the sexes without straining for it.
- It leans to girls, but a real share of children with this spelling are boys, so forms will sometimes guess wrong.
- Barry is commoner and the spelling gets corrected.
- No meaning can be given, because the surname's origin is disputed.
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Barrie
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Barries are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Barrie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Barrie in 2025?
- Barrie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Barrie with classmates?
- Barrie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Barrie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Barrie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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