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Barrington

Masculine

1928high 1991
#7194 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare11 boys in 2025

Barrington is an English place name that took hold in Jamaica. It decomposes into three parts — a personal name, the Old English -ing- meaning the people of, and tūn, a farmstead — so it originally described a settlement belonging to one man's followers, and its American peak in 1984 tracks Caribbean rather than English usage.

How old is the name Barrington?

Barrington first appears in US birth records in 1928 — 97 years ago. The typical Barrington alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 1,200 people named Barrington are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Barrington most popular?

Barrington peaked in 1984, reaching #1723 nationally. Today it ranks #7194, 5,471 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.

Compare this nameMore “B” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Barrington

English aristocratic surnames became given names in Jamaica and across the anglophone Caribbean in a pattern that is well documented and quite different from the American one: names such as Barrington, Winston, Delroy, Everton and Devon were taken up as first names in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Barrington Levy, whose recording career began in 1977, is the best-known bearer, and the American figures — thin before 1970, peaking in 1984 — follow Caribbean migration to New York, Florida and Toronto rather than any English source. In England itself Barrington remains a surname and a set of village names.

Meaningscholars disagree

Old English "the farmstead of Bara's people"

The -ington ending is transparent: a personal name, plus -inga-, of the people of, plus tūn, an enclosed farm or village. The first element is disputed and differs by village — the Barringtons in Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset do not all have the same origin, and candidates include a personal name Bara and a word for a grove. The reading given here is the most commonly cited, not a settled one. The Irish surname Barrington is often an anglicization of Ó Bearáin, a separate name.

How the name formed

  1. Baringatun
  2. Barrington

Related forms: Barington

Pronouncing Barrington

BARR-ing-tun

Three syllables, stress firmly on the first, with the last two unstressed and quick. The pattern is identical to Washington, Wellington and Harrington.

Nicknames for Barrington

Moderate

BarryThe standard short form, though Barry is also an independent Irish name
BarrieThe alternative spelling of the same clip, more common in Britain
BearA sound-based nickname from the first syllable, used informally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1928–202543220431119282025

US babies named Barrington per year from 1928 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#17231920s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1928
Most boys named
199143 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1723reached in 1984
Change vs 2022
−8.3%11 in 2025, from 12
Barrington sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1991, with 43 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Barrington in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Barington in English — spelling variant

Barringtons among us

1,200

people named Barrington are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was named Barrington

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Bufford test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Barrington's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Bufford climbed just as high around 1936, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Bufford's path sketches the road Barrington is walking now.

40%chance Barrington will feel dated by 2040
Barrington, aligned on its peakBufford· peak 1936not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+40 yrsBufford · #3903Barrington today
Barrington today is about where Bufford stood in 1977 — 41 years past a #1723-sized peak. Within 15 years, Bufford had drifted out of the mainstream charts.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Barrington 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

Barrington beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Barrington in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Barringtonthis name11#7194Junius11#7194Orie11#7194Shade11#7194Chesley11#7194

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • The structure of the name is transparent and can be explained element by element.
  • Barry is an immediate, long-established short form.
  • It is formal and substantial without being invented.
What to consider
  • Three syllables means it will be shortened to Barry by most people.
  • The first element of the place name is genuinely uncertain.
  • It is far more common as a surname and a place name than as a first name.

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Barrington

Masculine · #7194 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Barringtons are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Barrington are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Barrington in 2025?
Barrington ranks #7194 among US boy names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Barrington?
About 1 in every 155,280 US boys born in 2025 was named Barrington — 11 in all.
Will my child share the name Barrington with classmates?
Barrington will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Barrington

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Junius#7194 · Orie#7194 · Shade#7194 · Chesley#7194 · Joesph#7194 · Lofton#7194 · Macon#7194 · Benjiman#7194

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Barrington? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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