Bern

Boys' name

A Bernese mountain dog, through Bernie

Bern has been given to 86 babies in the U.S. since 1915. 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 1958, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Bern, 1966

1 in 695,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Bern: meaning, origin, and history

A Bernese mountain dog, through Bernie

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Bern means

Bern belongs to the name family reached through Bern → Bernie. Its meaning is “A Bernese mountain dog”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Abbreviations * Clipping of Bernard. * Clipping of Bernadette. * Clipping of Bernice.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Bern (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Bern is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Bernard, Bernadette, Bernice and Bernie.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Bern is pronounced /bɝn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 86 boys were recorded with the name Bern between 1915 and 1966. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1958; its best national rank was #3,057 in 1958.

How common is Bern?

Bern had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1966, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1966: 1 in 695,000; 5 of 3,475,564 births
Among boys only: 1 in 357,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1966: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 481,817 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Bern 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 1966 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 481,817 children born in 1966 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bern. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Berns were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bern was born before 1955 — so the typical Bern is around 70 today.

Median birth year: 1955; About 70 years old
Biggest decade: 1950s; 47.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 79.1%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 57; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1950s — 47.7% of all recorded uses (41).

Is Bern 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 1958 (8)
Years since peak: 67; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 33.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,057; 1958

Spellings of Bern

Bern is not the most common spelling — Sean is, with 30.8% against Bern's <0.01%.

Sean30.8%423,637
Dean14.0%192,930
Leon13.3%182,638
Ben6.2%85,349
Byron6.0%82,238
Beau4.8%65,592
Benny3.5%48,500
Bert2.4%33,585

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.

Bern 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: #3,057; 1958
Peak year: 1958; 8 that year
First recorded: 1915
Last recorded: 1966
All-time count: 86
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Bern

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

Beric Berel Beren Bernd Berny Berk Berl Berne Berish Berlyn Beryle Beri Berke Berat Bernon Bertel Bergen Bereket Berley Berger Berkay Bera Berney Berle

Sibling names for Bern

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

Gerri Cathie Lizabeth Laureen Pamala Valorie Ginny Cindi

For a brother

Von Curtiss Russ Lonny Nicky Dwain Gerry Stan

Explore around Bern

Top names of 1958, Bern's peak year The 1950s in full Other names that peaked in 1958 Boys' names starting with B