Berlin
Feminine · “swamp”
Berlin is given to both — 1,796 girls and 1,635 boys since 1880. See Berlin as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Berlin is the German capital, and its name is not German — it comes from a Slavic word for a swamp, which is what the site was before anyone drained it.
How old is the name Berlin?
Berlin first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Berlin alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,700 people named Berlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Berlin most popular?
Berlin peaked in 2011, reaching #2017 nationally. Today it ranks #3780, 1,763 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From berl to Berlin
The story of Berlin
Berlin sits on marshy ground along the Spree, and Slavic speakers lived there before German ones — the city's name, like Leipzig's and Dresden's, is Slavic. The bear on its coat of arms is a pun the citizens made on the name, not its source. Its use as a given name is recent and American and belongs with the other place names given to girls.
Meaningscholars disagree
swamp, marsh
The most widely accepted reading takes the name from a Polabian Slavic word for a swamp or dry place in a marsh, reflecting the settlement's site on the Spree. The folk connection to the German word for a bear, which the city's arms display, is not supported.
How the name formed
- berl
- Berlin
Related forms: Berlin · Berlin
Pronouncing Berlin
BUR-lin
Two syllables. Americans stress the first; German stresses the second, ber-LEEN.
Nicknames for Berlin
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
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 201197 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2017reached in 2011
- Change vs 2024
- −32.8%39 in 2025, from 58
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.
Berlin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Berlin in German — same name
- Berlin in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Utah.
Berlins among us
people named Berlin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 41,212 born in 2025 was named Berlin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Berlin
- #3780
- Berlin on the 2025 chart
- #890
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Berlin went to 39 girls in 2025, but Berlyn and Berlynn are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 70, which makes it the 890th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,890 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 22,961 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 41,212 for Berlin itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Carlita test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Berlin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Carlita climbed just as high around 1953, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Carlita's path sketches the road Berlin is walking now.
Berlin 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 Berlin is headed
Berlin 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.
Berlin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Berlin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real city with a documented and genuinely surprising name history.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Lin is a plain short form that carries into adult life.
- The city's twentieth-century history is very heavy and the name carries it.
- The stress differs between the German and American readings.
- Naming a child for a city invites a question about family connection.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Berlin to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Berlin
Feminine · #3780 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Berlins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Berlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Berlin?
- Berlin is the most-used spelling in US records — 39 of the 70 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Berlyn and Berlynn.
- How popular is the name Berlin in 2025?
- Berlin ranks #3780 among US girl names in 2025, with 39 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Berlin?
- About 1 in every 41,212 US girls born in 2025 was named Berlin — 39 in all.
- Will my child share the name Berlin with classmates?
- Berlin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Berlin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kimberlyn#3780 · Jonah#3780 · Aine#3780 · Jakayla#3780 · Shriya#3780 · Analeigh#3780 · Daliyah#3780 · Jamia#3780
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Berlin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Berlin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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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