Berkley vs Bernadine
American parents have registered 21,933 Bernadines since 1880, against 7,712 Berkleys. But in 2025 it was Berkley that was commoner, 334 babies to 6.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Berkley Bernadine
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 143 years in which either name was published, Bernadine for 102 years and Berkley for 41 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Berkley | Bernadine | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 7,712 | 21,933 |
| Most in one year | 389 | 563 |
| Babies in 2025 | 334 | 6 |
| Estimated living today | 6,900 | 7,600 |
| Median age today | 10 | 71 |
| Peak year | 2021 | 1924 |
| Best rank | 798th girls | 277th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 887th | 13,208th |
| First recorded | 1891 | 1882 |
| Girls / boys | 5,510 / 2,202 | 21,933 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Bernadines alive today are over 71; half the Berkleys are over 10. That is 61 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Berkley Utah (7.0×), South Dakota (5.4×), Nebraska (5.2×)
- Bernadine North Dakota (3.6×), Wisconsin (3.3×), Iowa (3.2×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Berkley and Bernadine.