Barbra vs Barney
American parents have registered 16,181 Barneys since 1880, against 7,758 Barbras. Barney is still ahead, with 5 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Barbra Barney
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 138 years in which either name was published, Barney for 105 years and Barbra for 33 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1880–1964 Barney ahead
- 1965–1984 Barbra ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1985–1994 Barney ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1995–2006 Barbra ahead, apart from one short spell
- 2010–2025 Barney ahead
5 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Barbra | Barney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 7,758 | 16,181 |
| Most in one year | 343 | 304 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 5 |
| Estimated living today | 5,700 | 5,700 |
| Median age today | 60 | 67 |
| Peak year | 1966 | 1919 |
| Best rank | 512th girls | 319th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 12,008th |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 7,758 / 0 | 91 / 16,090 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Barneys alive today are over 67; half the Barbras are over 60. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Barbra Mississippi (2.3×), Ohio (1.8×), Arkansas (1.8×)
- Barney Mississippi (3.4×), Alabama (3.1×), South Carolina (3.1×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Barbra and Barney.