Bernabe
Masculine · “Son of encouragement”
Bernabé is Barnabas in Spanish, and Barnabas is a nickname the apostles gave: the book of Acts says the man's name was Joseph and that they called him Barnabas, which it translates as son of encouragement.
How old is the name Bernabe?
Bernabe first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Bernabe alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 1,400 people named Bernabe are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bernabe most popular?
Bernabe peaked in 1930, reaching #1533 nationally. Today it ranks #5399, 3,866 places below that high. See the whole 1930 chart.
Where it comes from
From Barnabas to Bernabe
The story of Bernabe
Joseph of Cyprus sold his field and laid the money at the apostles' feet, and they called him Barnabas; he brought Paul into the community when others were afraid of him, traveled with him on the first missionary journey, and split with him over whether to take Mark along. Cyprus claims him as its founder and apostle. Spanish took the name as Bernabé, and it became ordinary in Spain and Mexico. Its American record follows Mexican-American families, peaking in 1930, and the Bernabéu stadium in Madrid — named for a club president rather than the saint — keeps the sound familiar to football audiences.
Meaningscholars disagree
Son of encouragement, or son of a prophet
Acts 4:36 glosses Barnabas as son of encouragement or consolation. The underlying Aramaic is generally reconstructed as bar-nĕḇûʾāh, son of prophecy, with the translation in Acts reflecting how the community understood the word rather than a strict etymology. Both readings are in the sources and the Acts gloss is the traditional one.
How the name formed
- Barnabas
- Barnabé
- Bernabé
Related forms: Bernabé · Barnaba · Barnabé · Barnabas · Barnabé
Pronouncing Bernabe
ber-nah-BEH
Three syllables, stress on the last, marked by the accent in Spanish. American records drop the accent, which moves the stress forward for English readers to ber-NAH-bee.
Nicknames for Bernabe
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
- 1916
- Most boys named
- 198731 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1533reached in 1930
- Change vs 2023
- +30.8%17 in 2025, from 13
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.
Bernabe in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bernabé in Spanish — same name
- Barnaba in Italian — related form
- Barnabé in French — related form
- Barnabas in English — related form
- Barnabé in Portuguese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Bernabes among us
people named Bernabe are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 100,475 born in 2025 was named Bernabe
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 Marcial test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bernabe's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marcial climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marcial's path sketches the road Bernabe is walking now.
Bernabe 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
Bernabe beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bernabe in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The biblical bearer is genuinely admirable and the story is easy to tell.
- It is spelled the same in Spanish and close in French and Portuguese.
- Three open syllables are easy for an English speaker.
- American records drop the accent, and the stress moves with it.
- It is regularly confused with Bernard, which is an unrelated Germanic name.
- The meaning is not fully settled, though the Acts gloss is old.
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What they receive
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Bernabe
Masculine · #5399 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bernabes 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 Bernabe are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bernabe in 2025?
- Bernabe ranks #5399 among US boy names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bernabe?
- About 1 in every 100,475 US boys born in 2025 was named Bernabe — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bernabe with classmates?
- Bernabe will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bernabe
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frazier#5399 · Franz#5399 · Demetrio#5399 · Rolan#5399 · Rayvon#5399 · Riddick#5399 · Laramie#5399 · Soloman#5399
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bernabe? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bernabe and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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