Name Awesome

Bee

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

She who makes happy, through Beatrice

Bee has been given to 1,700 babies in the U.S. since 1881. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1991, with 41 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 60% boys, 40% girls all-time.

Babies named Bee, 2000

1 in 630,000

Bee over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Bee over time

In 2025, Bee went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18812025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Bee: meaning, origin, and history

She who makes happy, through Beatrice

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Bee means

Bee belongs to the name family reached through Bee → Beatrice. Its meaning is “she who makes happy”.

Origin, language, and formation

Bee is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Beatrice.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,023 boys were recorded with the name Bee between 1881 and 2000. Its highest annual count was 41 in 1991; its best national rank was #565 in 1881.

In the United States, 677 girls were recorded with the name Bee between 1883 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 27 in 1917; its best national rank was #829 in 1883.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,249 in 2020 to #11,091 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Bee?

Bee had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2000, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2000
1 in 630,000
6 of 3,778,496 births
Among boys only
1 in 327,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2000
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
436,510 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Bee sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2000 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 436,510 children born in 2000 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bee. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Bees were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bee was born before 1979 — so the typical Bee is around 46 today.

Median birth year
1979
About 46 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
26.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
51.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
529
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 26.0% of all recorded uses (266).

Is Bee rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1991 (41)
Years since peak
34
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#565
1881

Where Bee is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Bee was most concentrated in Wisconsin — about 1 in 50,000 boys, against 1 in 77,582 across all states with data. It was least common in Kentucky (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Wisconsin1 in 50,000
  2. 2California1 in 100,000
  3. 3Minnesota1 in 100,000
  4. 4Kentucky1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Bee has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Bee is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Bee was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 941,928 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Bee has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Bee around the world

Where Bee ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • South Australia
    1981–1981
    #425
    in 1981

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Bee by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#565
1881
Peak year
1991
41 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2000
All-time count
1,023
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,091
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 158
Best rank ever
#829
1883
Peak year
1917
27 that year
First recorded
1883
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
677
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Bee

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

BeecherKobeeCobeeKolbeeBeebeJakobeeJacobeeAlbeeMaccabeeColbee

Sibling names for Bee

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Bee

Top names of 1991, Bee's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1881Boys' names starting with B