Baran
A Persian name meaning "rain" or "rain giver".
Name Census estimates that about 269 living Americans carry the first name Baran. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Baran today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Baran births was 2015 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Baran. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Baran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
269
~ 1 in 1,274,180 Americans
Peak year
2015
22 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,284
Tracked since 1999
Census
Baran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 428 people with the first name Baran, which placed it at #23,034 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#23,034
National first-name rank
People counted
428
428 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Baran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Baran is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Baran described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Baran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.0% · 364
- Two or more races5.4% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 16
- Black or African American3.3% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Baran
Baran is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 271 total registrations, 182 (67.2%) were male and 89 (32.8%) were female.
Baran as a male name
- Ranked #7,284 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (14 births)
Baran as a female name
- Ranked #12,323 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Baran on both sides of the split. Of the 415 people counted with this name, 269 were male (64.8%) and 146 were female (35.2%).
Popularity
Baran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Baran from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 143 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Baran remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Baran by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Baran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Barans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Baran
The name Baran has its roots in the Persian language, originating from the Middle Persian word "varan," which means "rain." This name was prevalent during the ancient Persian Empire and is believed to have been initially used as a reference to the life-giving and nourishing properties of rainfall in the arid regions of Persia.
In ancient Persian mythology, Baran was also the name of a deity associated with rain, fertility, and agriculture. This divine connection further solidified the name's significance and its association with the natural cycles of life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Baran can be found in the Shahnameh, the epic Persian poem written by Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. The work mentions a character named Baran, who was a valiant warrior and a hero celebrated for his bravery and valor.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Baran. One such figure was Baran I, a Kurdish ruler who reigned over the principality of Ardalan in present-day Iran during the 16th century. Another prominent bearer of this name was Baran Rizgar, a Kurdish poet and writer who lived in the 20th century and contributed significantly to the preservation of Kurdish literature and culture.
In the realm of art and literature, Baran Kendirci was a renowned Turkish painter and sculptor who lived from 1938 to 2016. His works often explored themes of human existence and the natural world, reflecting the name's connection to the elements.
Moving to the field of sports, Baran Pamukoglu was a Turkish basketball player who represented his country at the international level. He played professionally in Turkey and Spain, earning recognition for his skills on the court.
Lastly, Baran Rasoulof is an Iranian film director and screenwriter born in 1973. His work has been acclaimed for its thought-provoking explorations of social and political issues, often challenging societal norms and pushing boundaries in Iranian cinema.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have carried the name Baran throughout history, reflecting the name's enduring cultural significance and its association with nature, creativity, and perseverance.
People
Baran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Baran as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Baran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Baran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 269 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Baran going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,274,180 US residents.
Is Baran a common name?
We classify Baran as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 271 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Baran most popular?
The single biggest year for Baran was 2015, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Baran is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Baran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 428 people with the name Baran, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,034 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Baran in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Baran?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Baran on both sides of the split. Of the 415 people counted with this name, 269 were male (64.8%) and 146 were female (35.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Baran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Baran is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Baran most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Baran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (364 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Baran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Baran a male name?
Yes, 67.2% of people registered as Baran in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Baran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Baran in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Baran can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Baran?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.