Berkeley
Masculine · “Old English "birch clearing”
Berkeley is given to both — 900 boys and 2,073 girls since 1880. See Berkeley as a girl nameSee other names given to both
England said Berkeley BARK-lee and America says BURK-lee, and the split is a sound change England made and America mostly refused. Clerk became clark, Derby became darby, sergeant became sarjeant — the er-to-ar wave of the fifteenth century, which American English largely reversed.
How old is the name Berkeley?
Berkeley first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Berkeley alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 600 people named Berkeley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Berkeley most popular?
Berkeley peaked in 1934, reaching #1932 nationally. Today it ranks #7679, 5,747 places below that high. See the whole 1934 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From beorc-lēah to Berkeley
The story of Berkeley
The er-to-ar change ran through late Middle English and left doublets behind: person and parson are the same word, and so are university and varsity. In some words the new pronunciation won and the spelling followed — dark, star, marvel; in others the spelling won back — clerk, certain, university. Britain kept the ar pronunciation in a set of proper names, America generally did not, and the two are now diagnostic of which side of the Atlantic a speaker learned the word on. Berkeley the university is named for Bishop George Berkeley, who said his own name BARK-lee. The American given name peaks in 1934.
Meaning
Old English "birch clearing"
From beorc, a birch tree, plus lēah, a woodland clearing — the Gloucestershire place name behind the family and the castle. The English pronunciation BARK-lee reflects a sound change that lowered er to ar in many words; American English restored the spelling pronunciation in most of them, which is why the university and the California city are BURK-lee while the English town and the philosopher are BARK-lee.
How the name formed
- beorc-lēah
- Berkeley
Related forms: Barclay · Berkley
Pronouncing Berkeley
BURK-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first, in American use. British English says BARK-lee for the English place, the family and the philosopher, which is the older pronunciation.
Nicknames for Berkeley
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
- 1913
- Most boys named
- 201321 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1932reached in 1934
- Change vs 2023
- −9.1%10 in 2025, from 11
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.
Berkeley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Barclay in English — spelling variant
- Berkley in English — spelling variant
Berkeleys among us
people named Berkeley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 170,808 born in 2025 was named Berkeley
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 Roberts test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Berkeley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Roberts climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Roberts's path sketches the road Berkeley is walking now.
Berkeley 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
Berkeley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Berkeley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The place-name elements are transparent and settled.
- Lee works as a short form for either sex.
- It is a genuine English surname with a long documented history.
- British and American speakers pronounce it differently.
- The front clip is offensive British slang.
- It reads as a university or a place first to most Americans.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Berkeley
Masculine · #7679 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Berkeleys 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 Berkeley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Berkeley in 2025?
- Berkeley ranks #7679 among US boy names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Berkeley?
- About 1 in every 170,808 US boys born in 2025 was named Berkeley — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Berkeley with classmates?
- Berkeley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Berkeley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Early#7679 · Obie#7679 · Huston#7679 · Knute#7679 · Rance#7679 · Blain#7679 · Doyle#7679 · Millard#7679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Berkeley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Berkeley and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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