Bernell
Bernell was last recorded in 2019, when 6 babies were given it; 2,308 Americans have been recorded with it between 1912 and 2019 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Bernell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Bernell?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #10,958, in 2019; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
56 babies in 1923, the peak
Bernell peaked in 1923, when 56 babies were given it (39 boys, #1,140 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | under 5 | 6 | #10,958 | |
| 2016 | under 5 | 5 | #12,426 | |
| 2011 | under 5 | 5 | #12,507 | |
| 2008 | under 5 | 6 | #11,218 | |
| 1999 | under 5 | 7 | #7,946 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 7 | #7,636 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 8 | #6,426 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 10 | #5,387 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 9 | #5,691 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 6 | #7,355 |
Every recorded year (89)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | under 5 | 15 | #3,790 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 12 | #4,284 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 13 | #3,722 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 10 | #4,263 | |
| 1986 | under 5 | 12 | #3,667 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 11 | #3,819 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 11 | #3,725 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 8 | #4,548 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 11 | #3,709 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 14 | #3,044 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 12 | #3,441 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 14 | #3,023 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 12 | #3,231 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 9 | #3,867 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 7 | #4,476 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 18 | #2,372 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 12 | #2,963 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 10 | #3,245 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 6 | #4,488 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 18 | #2,210 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 21 | #1,942 | |
| 1969 | 5 | #7,567 | 16 | #2,138 |
| 1968 | 6 | #6,314 | 10 | #2,746 |
| 1967 | 7 | #5,499 | 8 | #3,012 |
| 1966 | 5 | #6,643 | 10 | #2,638 |
| 1965 | under 5 | 22 | #1,670 | |
| 1964 | 6 | #6,069 | 21 | #1,734 |
| 1963 | under 5 | 17 | #1,965 | |
| 1962 | 8 | #4,894 | 23 | #1,672 |
| 1961 | 7 | #5,345 | 23 | #1,691 |
| 1960 | 9 | #4,467 | 16 | #2,048 |
| 1959 | 9 | #4,322 | 15 | #2,119 |
| 1958 | 5 | #6,171 | 24 | #1,597 |
| 1957 | 9 | #4,229 | 23 | #1,675 |
| 1956 | under 5 | 24 | #1,610 | |
| 1955 | 12 | #3,397 | 27 | #1,487 |
| 1954 | 8 | #4,304 | 17 | #1,893 |
| 1953 | 11 | #3,499 | 25 | #1,512 |
| 1952 | 9 | #3,831 | 38 | #1,195 |
| 1951 | 11 | #3,297 | 27 | #1,430 |
| 1950 | 11 | #3,244 | 25 | #1,467 |
| 1949 | 16 | #2,526 | 33 | #1,253 |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,612 | 28 | #1,378 |
| 1947 | 13 | #2,913 | 24 | #1,520 |
| 1946 | 19 | #2,162 | 15 | #1,891 |
| 1945 | 12 | #2,612 | 20 | #1,503 |
| 1944 | 22 | #1,811 | 14 | #1,894 |
| 1943 | 7 | #3,837 | 17 | #1,770 |
| 1942 | 21 | #1,866 | 28 | #1,316 |
| 1941 | 16 | #2,102 | 23 | #1,414 |
| 1940 | 13 | #2,311 | 17 | #1,684 |
| 1939 | 19 | #1,807 | 29 | #1,223 |
| 1938 | 19 | #1,816 | 24 | #1,369 |
| 1937 | 15 | #2,108 | 22 | #1,447 |
| 1936 | 19 | #1,744 | 21 | #1,468 |
| 1935 | 19 | #1,787 | 14 | #1,935 |
| 1934 | 21 | #1,654 | 27 | #1,294 |
| 1933 | 15 | #2,064 | 29 | #1,233 |
| 1932 | 20 | #1,760 | 26 | #1,359 |
| 1931 | 25 | #1,510 | 17 | #1,777 |
| 1930 | 19 | #1,881 | 26 | #1,432 |
| 1929 | 17 | #2,016 | 28 | #1,341 |
| 1928 | 18 | #2,024 | 28 | #1,387 |
| 1927 | 27 | #1,589 | 22 | #1,651 |
| 1926 | 19 | #2,006 | 18 | #1,849 |
| 1925 | 24 | #1,753 | 18 | #1,878 |
| 1924 | 20 | #2,000 | 15 | #2,140 |
| 1923 | 17 | #2,183 | 39 | #1,140 |
| 1922 | 15 | #2,394 | 29 | #1,369 |
| 1921 | 25 | #1,726 | 27 | #1,453 |
| 1920 | 23 | #1,756 | 27 | #1,424 |
| 1919 | 16 | #2,164 | 23 | #1,535 |
| 1918 | 20 | #1,892 | 21 | #1,657 |
| 1917 | 13 | #2,433 | 16 | #1,907 |
| 1916 | 8 | #3,296 | 18 | #1,702 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,553 | 14 | #1,982 |
| 1914 | under 5 | 9 | #2,287 | |
| 1913 | under 5 | 6 | #2,530 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 10 | #1,628 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Bernell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 2,308 Americans recorded as Bernell, 32% are girls and 68% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Bernell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Bernell, and how old are they?
An estimated 962 Americans named Bernell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (42% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 51 and 77. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 1,029 people named Bernell (304 women and girls, 725 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,165 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
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 Bernell born?
The states with the most babies named Bernell are Louisiana, Illinois and Texas, with 84% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Louisiana is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 180 | not ranked | 3.7× |
| Illinois | 16 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Texas | 13 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| North Carolina | 10 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Alabama | 10 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Mississippi | 6 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Arkansas | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Missouri | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| South Carolina | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Bernell is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Bernell is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1912 it was given 3.7 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 boys’ 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 Bernell 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 2 names spelled alike, given to 2,498 babies since 1880, Bernell is the most given (92% of them).
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.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Bernell
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Bernell and names like it
- Compare Bernell and BernalBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sBernell peaked in 1923.
- Louisiana’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Bernell since 1910.
- The top names of 1923The year the most babies were named Bernell.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Bernell alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.