Meaning not yet researched.
Barney: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 5 in 2025. Its best rank was #202 in 1887.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #202 in 1887; #12,274 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Barney in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#12,274 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1887, at #202.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Barney: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 5 boys in 2025. Peak: #202 in 1887 · most boys in one year: 304 (1919).
In 2025, 5 US boys were named Barney, making it the 12,274th most common boys’ name of the year, down 2,243 places from #10,031 in 2024. That is 2 fewer than the 7 boys named Barney in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #202, reached in 1887. The most boys given the name in a single year was 304, in 1919. For comparison, it was #10,824 in 2015 and #415 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Barney in 134 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 44 babies. In all, 16,181 US babies have been given the name, 0.6% of them girls and 99% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1950s, with 2,684 babies named Barney.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 29 US boys were named Barney; the busiest of those years was 2024, with 7. In 2025 that was about 1 in 341,615 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Rarer spellings such as Barnie and Barny are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Barnabas.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
No related spellings pass our data threshold.
Rare spellings summarised here: Barnie (646), Barny (5).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Barney is listed as a nickname for Barnabas, Bernard.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 5 | #12,274 |
| 2024 | — | — | 7 | #10,031 |
| 2020 | — | — | 5 | #12,247 |
| 2019 | — | — | 5 | #12,375 |
| 2016 | — | — | 7 | #9,788 |
| 2015 | — | — | 6 | #10,824 |
| 2014 | — | — | 5 | #12,303 |
| 2013 | — | — | 8 | #8,888 |
| 2010 | — | — | 6 | #10,910 |
| 2007 | — | — | 6 | #11,074 |
| 2006 | — | — | 6 | #10,814 |
| 2004 | — | — | 6 | #10,087 |
| 2002 | — | — | 7 | #8,542 |
| 2001 | — | — | 5 | #10,739 |
| 1999 | — | — | 7 | #7,948 |
| 1998 | — | — | 12 | #5,181 |
| 1997 | — | — | 13 | #4,687 |
| 1996 | — | — | 8 | #6,556 |
| 1995 | — | — | 12 | #4,820 |
| 1994 | — | — | 17 | #3,763 |
| 1993 | — | — | 21 | #3,152 |
| 1992 | — | — | 25 | #2,750 |
| 1991 | — | — | 28 | #2,475 |
| 1990 | — | — | 30 | #2,319 |
| 1989 | — | — | 23 | #2,698 |
| 1988 | — | — | 45 | #1,593 |
| 1987 | — | — | 33 | #1,899 |
| 1986 | — | — | 38 | #1,664 |
| 1985 | — | — | 41 | #1,570 |
| 1984 | — | — | 43 | #1,460 |
| 1983 | — | — | 47 | #1,361 |
| 1982 | — | — | 49 | #1,344 |
| 1981 | — | — | 53 | #1,259 |
| 1980 | — | — | 58 | #1,205 |
| 1979 | — | — | 60 | #1,169 |
| 1978 | — | — | 62 | #1,110 |
| 1977 | — | — | 68 | #1,047 |
| 1976 | — | — | 77 | #946 |
| 1975 | — | — | 62 | #1,053 |
| 1974 | — | — | 77 | #924 |
| 1973 | — | — | 74 | #936 |
| 1972 | — | — | 90 | #846 |
| 1971 | — | — | 100 | #803 |
| 1970 | — | — | 85 | #875 |
| 1969 | — | — | 97 | #782 |
| 1968 | — | — | 96 | #757 |
| 1967 | — | — | 98 | #743 |
| 1966 | — | — | 121 | #672 |
| 1965 | — | — | 133 | #646 |
| 1964 | — | — | 185 | #582 |
| 1963 | 5 | #6,667 | 167 | #607 |
| 1962 | — | — | 211 | #548 |
| 1961 | — | — | 223 | #530 |
| 1960 | 5 | #6,442 | 267 | #485 |
| 1959 | — | — | 241 | #507 |
| 1958 | — | — | 262 | #482 |
| 1957 | 6 | #5,419 | 271 | #470 |
| 1956 | — | — | 260 | #468 |
| 1955 | — | — | 275 | #448 |
| 1954 | 6 | #5,192 | 259 | #449 |
| 1953 | — | — | 297 | #402 |
| 1952 | — | — | 283 | #409 |
| 1951 | — | — | 260 | #420 |
| 1950 | — | — | 264 | #415 |
| 1949 | — | — | 219 | #450 |
| 1948 | — | — | 255 | #419 |
| 1947 | 6 | #4,791 | 267 | #418 |
| 1946 | — | — | 225 | #423 |
| 1945 | 6 | #4,061 | 211 | #413 |
| 1944 | 5 | #4,620 | 220 | #405 |
| 1943 | — | — | 220 | #418 |
| 1942 | — | — | 179 | #465 |
| 1941 | — | — | 178 | #435 |
| 1940 | — | — | 194 | #415 |
| 1939 | 5 | #4,307 | 188 | #417 |
| 1938 | — | — | 183 | #420 |
| 1937 | — | — | 209 | #383 |
| 1936 | — | — | 206 | #383 |
| 1935 | — | — | 184 | #402 |
| 1934 | — | — | 200 | #386 |
| 1933 | — | — | 180 | #401 |
| 1932 | — | — | 164 | #440 |
| 1931 | — | — | 181 | #418 |
| 1930 | — | — | 216 | #389 |
| 1929 | — | — | 205 | #406 |
| 1928 | — | — | 208 | #415 |
| 1927 | 7 | #3,903 | 193 | #438 |
| 1926 | 5 | #4,924 | 214 | #409 |
| 1925 | 8 | #3,696 | 230 | #396 |
| 1924 | — | — | 275 | #359 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,676 | 260 | #367 |
| 1922 | — | — | 263 | #370 |
| 1921 | 7 | #4,065 | 289 | #352 |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,057 | 263 | #369 |
| 1919 | — | — | 304 | #319 |
| 1918 | — | — | 299 | #331 |
| 1917 | — | — | 298 | #308 |
| 1916 | 7 | #3,588 | 265 | #324 |
| 1915 | — | — | 276 | #306 |
| 1914 | — | — | 241 | #288 |
| 1913 | — | — | 185 | #291 |
| 1912 | — | — | 159 | #284 |
| 1911 | — | — | 99 | #261 |
| 1910 | — | — | 71 | #291 |
| 1909 | — | — | 62 | #285 |
| 1908 | — | — | 58 | #285 |
| 1907 | — | — | 64 | #263 |
| 1906 | — | — | 71 | #232 |
| 1905 | — | — | 70 | #234 |
| 1904 | — | — | 53 | #260 |
| 1903 | — | — | 50 | #259 |
| 1902 | — | — | 50 | #261 |
| 1901 | — | — | 34 | #303 |
| 1900 | — | — | 83 | #216 |
| 1899 | — | — | 50 | #234 |
| 1898 | — | — | 73 | #204 |
| 1897 | — | — | 58 | #223 |
| 1896 | — | — | 58 | #237 |
| 1895 | — | — | 55 | #238 |
| 1894 | — | — | 52 | #239 |
| 1893 | — | — | 63 | #215 |
| 1892 | — | — | 70 | #208 |
| 1891 | — | — | 49 | #229 |
| 1890 | — | — | 44 | #256 |
| 1889 | — | — | 54 | #222 |
| 1888 | — | — | 69 | #212 |
| 1887 | — | — | 58 | #202 |
| 1886 | — | — | 65 | #205 |
| 1885 | — | — | 43 | #252 |
| 1884 | — | — | 62 | #210 |
| 1883 | — | — | 48 | #225 |
| 1882 | — | — | 52 | #228 |
| 1881 | — | — | 40 | #245 |
| 1880 | — | — | 44 | #249 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).