Barry
Feminine · “fair-headed”
Barry is given to boys far more often — 181,270 boys against 766 girls since 1880. See Barry as a boy name
Barry is recorded for boys and girls alike and comes from Ireland, where it is the tail of a longer name belonging to the saint who founded Cork. It is also one letter from a word that English uses for two entirely unrelated things.
How old is the name Barry?
Barry first appears in US birth records in 1931 — 94 years ago. The typical Barry alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 600 people named Barry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Barry most popular?
Barry peaked in 1943, reaching #1834 nationally. See the whole 1943 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Fionnbharr to Barry
The story of Barry
Finbarr is the patron of Cork and is said to have founded a monastery and school there on marshy ground beside the river, which is why the city's motto and seal refer to a place where ships come. The school drew students from across Ireland and beyond, and the city grew around it. His name is a description rather than a reference: the fair-haired one. Meanwhile the English word barrow does duty for two separate things. A burial barrow is an Old English word for a hill or mound; a wheelbarrow is a completely different Old English word, related to bear, meaning a thing carried. They converged in spelling and have nothing to do with each other.
Meaning
fair-headed
The Irish name behind it, Fionnbharr, joins an element meaning fair or bright to one meaning head or hair. The reading is settled, and Barry is the last syllable of it used alone.
How the name formed
- Fionnbharr
- Barra
- Barry
Related forms: Barra
Pronouncing Barry
BARR-ee
Two syllables with the stress in front. There is nothing in it to get wrong.
Nicknames for Barry
Limited
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
- 1931
- Most girls named
- 196026 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1834reached in 1943
- Change vs 1990
- 0.0%5 in 1992, from 5
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.
Barry in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Barra in Irish — related form
Barrys among us
people named Barry 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
Barry 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 is read correctly at first sight and never needs spelling out loud.
- The meaning is settled and can be given in two words.
- It has an unbroken American record going back to the beginning of the statistics.
- In America it reads as belonging to an older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to boys but is recorded for girls as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- It is close enough to Berry and Barrie to be written as either from speech.
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Barry
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Barrys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Barry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Barry in 2025?
- Barry is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Barry with classmates?
- Barry will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Barry? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Barry and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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