Berenice
Berenice was given to 28 girls in 2025, #4,783 among girls’ names; 9,524 Americans have been recorded with it since 1883 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 7,330 Americans named Berenice and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (77% of everyone recorded); the median is 27 years old and half are between 20 and 33.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Berenice by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Berenice mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Berenice is “a female given name from Ancient Greek, notably of ancient queens of Egypt.” Its etymology gives the senses “bringer of victory” (Βερενῑ́κη) and “to bear, to carry, to bring” (φέρω) and “victory” (νῑ́κη).
Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βερενῑ́κη (Berenī́kē, “bringer of victory”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Macedonian (compare the native word Φερενῑ́κη (Pherenī́kē)), from φέρω (phérō, “to bear, to carry, to bring”) + νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”). Doublet of Veronica.
/ˌbɛɹəˈniːs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Berenice?
#4,783 among girls’ names, 2025
Berenice fell from #2,935 in 2015 to #4,783 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 33.1 to 17.4 per million.
331 babies in 1995, the peak
Berenice peaked in 1995, when 331 babies were given it (326 girls, #656 among girls’ names). The 28 births of 2025 are 8% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 28 | #4,783 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 40 | #3,769 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 43 | #3,597 | 0.03 |
| 2022 | 41 | #3,711 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 47 | #3,349 | 0.03 |
| 2020 | 63 | #2,662 | 0.04 |
| 2019 | 79 | #2,290 | 0.05 |
| 2018 | 72 | #2,459 | 0.04 |
| 2017 | 91 | #2,112 | 0.05 |
| 2016 | 89 | #2,172 | 0.05 |
Every recorded year (139)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 59 | #2,935 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 73 | #2,473 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 102 | #1,941 | 0.06 |
| 2012 | 129 | #1,653 | 0.07 |
| 2011 | 109 | #1,843 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | 147 | #1,521 | 0.08 |
| 2009 | 228 | #1,112 | 0.12 |
| 2008 | 192 | #1,295 | 0.10 |
| 2007 | 204 | #1,224 | 0.11 |
| 2006 | 252 | #1,015 | 0.13 |
| 2005 | 235 | #1,030 | 0.13 |
| 2004 | 231 | #1,020 | 0.13 |
| 2003 | 282 | #857 | 0.15 |
| 2002 | 274 | #843 | 0.15 |
| 2001 | 308 | #770 | 0.17 |
| 2000 | 276 | #818 | 0.15 |
| 1999 | 263 | #824 | 0.15 |
| 1998 | 282 | #762 | 0.16 |
| 1997 | 236 | #865 | 0.14 |
| 1996 | 281 | #752 | 0.16 |
| 1995 | 326 | #656 | 0.19 |
| 1994 | 268 | #765 | 0.15 |
| 1993 | 300 | #711 | 0.17 |
| 1992 | 242 | #825 | 0.13 |
| 1991 | 202 | #940 | 0.11 |
| 1990 | 152 | #1,133 | 0.08 |
| 1989 | 164 | #1,039 | 0.09 |
| 1988 | 111 | #1,300 | 0.06 |
| 1987 | 81 | #1,553 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 80 | #1,525 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 71 | #1,649 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 63 | #1,730 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 55 | #1,887 | 0.03 |
| 1982 | 64 | #1,738 | 0.04 |
| 1981 | 51 | #2,029 | 0.03 |
| 1980 | 48 | #2,130 | 0.03 |
| 1979 | 29 | #2,935 | 0.02 |
| 1978 | 26 | #3,014 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 38 | #2,344 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 21 | #3,295 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 20 | #3,407 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 21 | #3,221 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 9 | #5,615 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 9 | #5,510 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 9 | #5,439 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 6 | #6,688 | under 0.01 |
| 1968 | 6 | #6,312 | under 0.01 |
| 1967 | 10 | #4,323 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 5 | #6,639 | under 0.01 |
| 1965 | 8 | #4,862 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 7 | #5,516 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 8 | #4,892 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 6 | #5,902 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 5 | #6,446 | under 0.01 |
| 1959 | 7 | #5,075 | under 0.01 |
| 1957 | 5 | #6,148 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 10 | #3,931 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 9 | #4,093 | under 0.01 |
| 1954 | 12 | #3,338 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 7 | #4,621 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 8 | #4,153 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 8 | #4,045 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 12 | #3,066 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 6 | #4,715 | under 0.01 |
| 1948 | 8 | #3,912 | under 0.01 |
| 1947 | 10 | #3,463 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 9 | #3,440 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 9 | #3,156 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 13 | #2,524 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 9 | #3,268 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 10 | #3,001 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 19 | #1,889 | 0.02 |
| 1940 | 17 | #1,968 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 20 | #1,743 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,600 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 18 | #1,851 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 14 | #2,163 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 22 | #1,610 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 17 | #1,926 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 26 | #1,444 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 18 | #1,884 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 17 | #1,949 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 27 | #1,504 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 27 | #1,491 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 33 | #1,340 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 55 | #1,035 | 0.05 |
| 1926 | 49 | #1,070 | 0.04 |
| 1925 | 56 | #997 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 70 | #905 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 72 | #865 | 0.06 |
| 1922 | 51 | #1,061 | 0.04 |
| 1921 | 68 | #892 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 89 | #771 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 83 | #773 | 0.07 |
| 1918 | 89 | #756 | 0.08 |
| 1917 | 95 | #709 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 97 | #695 | 0.09 |
| 1915 | 104 | #648 | 0.11 |
| 1914 | 54 | #790 | 0.07 |
| 1913 | 52 | #722 | 0.08 |
| 1912 | 60 | #640 | 0.11 |
| 1911 | 46 | #636 | 0.11 |
| 1910 | 32 | #755 | 0.08 |
| 1909 | 30 | #732 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 35 | #652 | 0.10 |
| 1907 | 28 | #711 | 0.09 |
| 1906 | 26 | #718 | 0.09 |
| 1905 | 21 | #800 | 0.07 |
| 1904 | 25 | #702 | 0.09 |
| 1903 | 36 | #539 | 0.14 |
| 1902 | 29 | #612 | 0.11 |
| 1901 | 29 | #577 | 0.12 |
| 1900 | 29 | #657 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 25 | #617 | 0.11 |
| 1898 | 37 | #510 | 0.14 |
| 1897 | 23 | #645 | 0.10 |
| 1896 | 29 | #565 | 0.12 |
| 1895 | 23 | #640 | 0.10 |
| 1894 | 23 | #609 | 0.10 |
| 1893 | 23 | #595 | 0.11 |
| 1892 | 20 | #643 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 19 | #609 | 0.10 |
| 1890 | 9 | #948 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 20 | #570 | 0.11 |
| 1887 | 12 | #663 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,124 | 0.03 |
| 1885 | 7 | #851 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 5 | #1,041 | 0.04 |
| 1883 | 8 | #701 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Berenice a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Berenice has been given almost only to girls: 11 boys in 139 years of records.
Girls and boys named Berenice: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Berenice, and how old are they?
7,330 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 77% of the 9,524 Americans ever recorded as Berenice. The median Berenice alive today is 27 years old; half are between 20 and 33.
The 2020 Census counted 11,435 people named Berenice (11,418 women and girls, 17 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,220 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 81 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 104 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 249 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,460 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,610 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 822 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Berenice born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7 | #2,538 | 2.9× |
| Texas | 5 | #3,370 | 1.7× |
Where Berenice is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Berenice is most over-represented in California: since 1910 it was given 2.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Berenice with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 210,049 babies since 1880, Berenice is the third most given (4.5% of them). In 2025 it was given to 28 of their 63 babies (44%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
More about Berenice and names like it
- Compare Berenice and BerniceBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sBerenice peaked in 1995.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Berenice since 1910.
- The top names of 1995The year the most babies were named Berenice.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Berenice alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with BMost given first.