Humanverse

Berlynn vs Bernadine

American parents have registered 21,933 Bernadines since 1880, against 523 Berlynns. But in 2025 it was Berlynn that was commoner, 12 babies to 6.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Berlynn against Bernadine, 1880 to 2025 0 150 300 450 600 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Berlynn 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 119 years and Berlynn for 24 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Berlynn Bernadine
Total US births 52321,933
Most in one year 38563
Babies in 2025 126
Estimated living today 5207,600
Median age today 1371
Peak year 20141924
Best rank 3,925th girls277th girls
Rank in 2025 8,362nd13,208th
First recorded 19911882
Girls / boys 523 / 021,933 / 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 Berlynns are over 13. That is 58 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

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: Berlynn and Bernadine.