Bernabe
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "son of consolation".
Name Census estimates that about 1,408 living Americans carry the first name Bernabe. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bernabe today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernabe births was 1993 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernabe. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 243,433 Americans
Peak year
1993
37 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,895
Tracked since 1916
Census
Bernabe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,952 people with the first name Bernabe, which placed it at #4,639 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
#4,639
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,952 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
91.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bernabe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernabe is Hispanic at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%) and White (1.4%). 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 Bernabe 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 Bernabe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.8% · 3,627
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 247
- White1.4% · 54
- Black or African American0.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
- Two or more races0.2% · 6
Popularity
Bernabe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernabe from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 277 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
Bernabe 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 Bernabe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bernabes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Bernabe, while New Mexico, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 286 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernabe
The name Bernabe originated from the Hebrew language, derived from the Hebrew name Barnabas, which means "son of consolation" or "son of encouragement." The name gained popularity during the early years of Christianity and has been in use since ancient times.
Barnabas was a prominent figure in the New Testament, serving as a companion and missionary alongside the Apostle Paul. He was a Cypriot Jew who embraced Christianity and played a pivotal role in the early Christian church. The Book of Acts in the New Testament documents his missionary journeys and his work in spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Bernabe was Saint Bernabe, who lived in the 6th century and was a Christian martyr and bishop of Crete. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bernabe appeared in various historical records and manuscripts. One notable figure was Bernabe de Cabrera, a 14th-century Spanish nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the War of the Sicilian Vespers against the French.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained prominence in Italy, particularly in the city of Genoa, where Bernabe Brea (1516-1594) was a renowned historian and author who wrote extensively about the history of Genoa.
Another important figure was Bernabe Cobo (1582-1657), a Spanish Jesuit missionary and historian who spent many years in Peru and wrote a detailed account of the natural and cultural history of the Inca Empire.
In the 19th century, Bernabe Gutierrez (1784-1839) was a Mexican military officer and politician who served as the interim president of Mexico in 1836 during a turbulent period of the country's history.
Bernabe Arango (1899-1986) was a prominent Colombian writer and journalist known for his novels and short stories that explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of the working class in Colombia.
Throughout history, the name Bernabe has been borne by individuals from various cultural and religious backgrounds, reflecting its enduring presence across different regions and time periods.
People
Bernabe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernabe 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
Bernabe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernabe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,408 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernabe 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 243,433 US residents.
Is Bernabe a common name?
We classify Bernabe as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,807 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernabe most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernabe was 1993, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernabe is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bernabe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,952 people with the name Bernabe, or 1.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,639 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 Bernabe 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 Bernabe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bernabe leans strongly male. 3,791 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 161 female bearers (4.1%). 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 Bernabe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernabe is Hispanic at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%) and White (1.4%). 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 Bernabe most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Bernabe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (3,627 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 Bernabe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernabe a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernabe 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 Bernabe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernabe 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 Bernabe 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 share the name Bernabe?
You can see how many people have the name Bernabe on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.