Berenis
From Greek origins, meaning honeybee or bee maiden.
Name Census estimates that about 156 living Americans carry the first name Berenis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berenis today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berenis births was 1989 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berenis. 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.
People living today
156
~ 1 in 2,197,143 Americans
Peak year
1989
15 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2009 SSA rank
#17,724
Tracked since 1982
Census
Berenis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 194 people with the first name Berenis, which placed it at #39,126 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
#39,126
National first-name rank
People counted
194
194 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Berenis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berenis is Hispanic at 96.9%. The next largest groups are Black (2.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.5%). 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 Berenis 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 Berenis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.9% · 188
- Black or African American2.1% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Berenis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berenis from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 108 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berenis 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 Berenis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berenis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Berenis
The name Berenis has its origins in ancient Greece, where it was derived from the word "berenos," meaning "strong" or "hardy." It was a name given to children in the hope that they would grow to be resilient and persevere through life's challenges.
During the classical period of ancient Greece, the name Berenis was particularly popular among the aristocratic families of Athens and Sparta. It is believed that one of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in Herodotus' "Histories," where he mentions a Spartan warrior named Berenis who fought valiantly during the Greco-Persian Wars in the 5th century BC.
As Greek culture spread throughout the Mediterranean region, the name Berenis also gained popularity in other parts of the ancient world. In the 3rd century BC, a renowned mathematician and astronomer from the city of Cyrene (located in present-day Libya) was known as Berenis of Cyrene. He made significant contributions to the field of geometry and is credited with discovering several mathematical theorems.
In the 2nd century AD, the name Berenis appeared in the writings of Pausanias, a Greek traveler and geographer. He mentioned a Berenis who was a priestess at the Temple of Athena in the city of Argos, highlighting the name's association with religious and cultural significance.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the name Berenis remained relatively obscure, but it resurfaced in the 19th century with the birth of Berenis Koelbing (1820-1904), a German writer and translator who played a significant role in introducing the works of Charles Dickens to German-speaking audiences.
Another notable figure with the name Berenis was Berenis Hambridge (1878-1964), a British artist and illustrator who was known for her intricate woodcut engravings and lithographs depicting scenes from rural life.
In more recent times, the name Berenis has been carried by individuals such as Berenis Algarin (1911-2005), a Puerto Rican author and essayist whose works explored themes of identity, culture, and social justice; and Berenis Alvarez (born 1985), a Panamanian-American artist and sculptor whose works have been exhibited in various galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Berenis may not be as popular as it once was, its rich history and roots in ancient Greek culture continue to captivate those drawn to its strong and resilient connotations.
People
Berenis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berenis 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
Berenis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berenis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 156 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berenis 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 2,197,143 US residents.
Is Berenis a common name?
We classify Berenis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 161 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berenis most popular?
The single biggest year for Berenis was 1989, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berenis is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Berenis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 194 people with the name Berenis, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,126 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 Berenis 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 Berenis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Berenis appears almost entirely female. Of the 189 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Berenis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berenis is Hispanic at 96.9%. The next largest groups are Black (2.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.5%). 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 Berenis most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Berenis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.9% (188 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 Berenis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berenis a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berenis in the SSA data are female. 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 Berenis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berenis 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 Berenis 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 called Berenis?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.