Berkley
Masculine · “birch clearing”
Berkley is given to both — 2,202 boys and 5,510 girls since 1880. See Berkley as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Berkley is a spelling of Berkeley, an English place name that describes a wood: a clearing among birch trees. It has been an English surname since the Norman period and an American given name since the nineteenth century.
How old is the name Berkley?
Berkley first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Berkley alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 1,400 people named Berkley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Berkley most popular?
Berkley peaked in 1891, reaching #963 nationally. Today it ranks #3450, 2,487 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Where it comes from
From beorc leah to Berkley
The story of Berkley
Berkeley in Gloucestershire has a castle and a family that has held it since the twelfth century, one of the very few English families still in the same place. The surname traveled to America, where a California city was named for an eighteenth-century philosopher of the name. Berkley is the phonetic spelling and has been in American given-name use since the nineteenth century, quietly and for both sexes.
Meaning
birch clearing
From Old English beorc, birch, and leah, a clearing in woodland; the same leah closes Ashley, Bradley and Shirley, and the same beorc gives Berkhamsted and Barkway.
How the name formed
- beorc leah
- Berkeley
- Berkley
Related forms: Berkeley · Barclay
Pronouncing Berkley
BURK-lee
Two syllables, first stressed, in American use. The English family and village are said BARK-lee.
Nicknames for Berkley
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
- 1891
- Most boys named
- 201350 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #963reached in 1891
- Change vs 2023
- −8.3%33 in 2025, from 36
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.
Berkley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Berkeley in English — spelling variant
- Barclay in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Virginia.
Berkleys among us
people named Berkley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 51,760 born in 2025 was named Berkley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Berkley 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 Berkley is headed
Berkley should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Berkley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Berkley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning drawn from a real and specific landscape.
- Genuine nineteenth-century American use, so it is a revival rather than an invention.
- Read correctly on sight by every American.
- The English and American pronunciations differ in the first vowel entirely.
- Berkeley, Berkley and Berklee are all current and the spelling will be asked for.
- The California city and university are the first association for many.
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What they receive
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Berkley
Masculine · #3450 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Berkleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Berkley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Berkley in 2025?
- Berkley ranks #3450 among US boy names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Berkley?
- About 1 in every 51,760 US boys born in 2025 was named Berkley — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Berkley with classmates?
- Berkley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Berkley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sabastian#3450 · Luc#3450 · Deshaun#3450 · Trayvon#3450 · Blade#3450 · Oz#3450 · Josiyah#3450 · Fausto#3450
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Berkley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Berkley and another name?
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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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