Barth
Of German derivation, meaning hilltop or exalted one.
Name Census estimates that about 317 living Americans carry the first name Barth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Barth today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Barth births was 1955 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Barth. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Barth is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Barths were born before 1968.
People living today
317
~ 1 in 1,081,244 Americans
Peak year
1955
26 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1976 SSA rank
#4,475
Tracked since 1916
Census
Barth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 402 people with the first name Barth, which placed it at #24,093 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
#24,093
National first-name rank
People counted
402
402 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Barth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Barth is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%) and Black (5.5%). 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 Barth 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 Barth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.3% · 335
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 24
- Black or African American5.5% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 10
- Two or more races2.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Barth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Barth from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 156 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Barth 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 Barth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Barths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Barth
The name Barth originates from the German language and is believed to have its roots in the Old German word 'baro,' which means 'bear.' This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with strength, courage, and resilience, traits often attributed to bears in ancient Germanic cultures.
During the Middle Ages, the name Barth gained popularity across various Germanic regions, particularly in areas now part of modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It was often used as a given name for male children, with variations such as Bartho and Barthel also emerging.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Barth can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from the region of Saxony, dating back to the 11th century. This suggests that the name had already gained recognition and usage during the medieval period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Barth. One of the most prominent figures was Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles in the New Testament. His name is derived from the Aramaic form of Barth, 'Bar-Tolmai,' which means 'son of Tolmai.'
Another prominent figure was Barthold Schwarz (c. 1310-1384), a German monk and alchemist often credited with the discovery of gunpowder in Europe. His contributions to the development of firearms and explosives had a significant impact on military tactics and warfare.
In the realm of philosophy and theology, Karl Barth (1886-1968), a Swiss Reformed theologian, stands out as a towering figure of the 20th century. His works, such as the multi-volume "Church Dogmatics," have had a profound influence on modern Christian thought and theology.
Barth van der Neer (1603-1677) was a Dutch landscape painter known for his masterful depictions of moonlit scenes and atmospheric effects. His works are celebrated for their technical mastery and poetic sensitivity, capturing the ethereal beauty of the Dutch Golden Age.
Lastly, Barthold Georg Niebuhr (1776-1831), a German statesman and historian, made significant contributions to the study of ancient history. His critical analysis of Roman historical sources and his efforts to uncover the true nature of ancient societies have had a lasting impact on the field of historiography.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Barth throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human endeavor.
People
Barth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Barth 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
Barth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Barth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Barth 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 1,081,244 US residents.
Is Barth a common name?
We classify Barth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 470 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Barth most popular?
The single biggest year for Barth was 1955, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Barth is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Barth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 402 people with the name Barth, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,093 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 Barth 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 Barth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Barth leans strongly male. 396 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Barth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Barth is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%) and Black (5.5%). 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 Barth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Barth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (335 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 Barth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Barth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Barth 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 Barth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Barth 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 Barth 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 many people are named Barth?
Find out how many people share the name Barth on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.