Berel

#6,497 in 2025Boys' name

Literal meaning not recorded; Hebrew and Yiddish origin

Berel has been given to 195 babies in the U.S. since 1952. In 2025 it ranked #6,497 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2016, with 13 recorded.

Babies named Berel, 2025

1 in 255,000

Berel over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Berel: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded; Hebrew and Yiddish origin

Hebrew and Yiddish

What Berel means

Berel is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Berel is used in English. Its origins include Hebrew and Yiddish.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 195 boys were recorded with the name Berel between 1952 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 13 in 2016; its best national rank was #3,693 in 1960.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #7,581 in 2020 to #6,497 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #10,826 in 2015 to #6,497 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 Berel?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 255,000; 13 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 131,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #6,497; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 176,762 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Berel 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 2025 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 176,762 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Berel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Berels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Berel was born before 2016 — so the typical Berel is around 9 today.

Median birth year: 2016; About 9 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 42.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 86.7%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 195; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 42.6% of all recorded uses (83).

Is Berel 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: +820; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +1,084; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +4,329; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 2.17×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 100.0%; Peak was 2016 (13)
Years since peak: 9; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 35.5% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,693; 1960

Spellings of Berel

Berel is not the most common spelling — Derek is, with 61.6% against Berel's 0.05%.

Derek61.6%239,060
Bert8.7%33,585
Bret7.7%29,819
Burl1.9%7,181
Berry1.5%5,737
Jewel1.4%5,243
Jere1.1%4,278
Jered0.98%3,797

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Berel is used

Across 1910–2025, Berel was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 126,894 across all states with data.

11 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1New York1 in 100,000

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. Berel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Berel by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #6,497
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 1,084
Best rank ever: #3,693; 1960
Peak year: 2016; 13 that year
First recorded: 1952
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 195
Count in 2025: 13

Names similar to Berel

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

Beren Beric Berish Harel Aurel Bergen Bereket Yarel Berle Bernd Bernal Berlie Azarel Berman Berwyn Berk Berny Karel Berley Arel Berl Bertel Merel Bertin

Sibling names for Berel

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

For a sister

Annabell Karleigh Rhianna Adelle Kendyl Anabel Hayleigh Jaiden

For a brother

Kale Hamilton Aaden Caesar Tobin Jerimiah Jorden Gavyn

Explore around Berel

Top names of 2016, Berel's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 1960 Boys' names starting with B Yiddish Boy Names