Bernt
Bear-bright or illustrious bear, a German given name.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Bernt. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bernt today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernt births was 1927 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernt. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bernt. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1927
5 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
1983 SSA rank
#6,341
Tracked since 1927
Census
Bernt in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Bernt, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
100.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bernt
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernt is White at 100.0%. 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 Bernt 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 Bernt at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 163
Popularity
Bernt: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernt from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bernt 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 Bernt during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernt
The name Bernt has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Scandinavian people during the Viking Age from around the 8th to the 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old Norse elements "bern," meaning "bear," and the suffix "-t," which was a common patronymic ending. The name essentially means "son of the bear."
The name was particularly popular in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark during the Middle Ages. It is believed to have been inspired by the reverence for the bear in Norse mythology, where it was associated with strength, courage, and ferocity in battle.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Icelandic Landnámabók, a medieval manuscript that documents the settlement of Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries. The text mentions a settler named Bernt Ketilsson, who was among the first Norwegians to establish a homestead on the island.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bernt. One of the most famous was Bernt Anker (1551-1628), a Norwegian nobleman and military commander who played a crucial role in the Kalmar War between Denmark-Norway and Sweden in the early 17th century.
Another prominent figure was Bernt Mikael Holmboe (1795-1850), a Norwegian mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the fields of geodesy and cartography. He was also a renowned educator and served as the rector of the University of Oslo.
In the realm of literature, Bernt Lie (1868-1916) was a celebrated Norwegian novelist and playwright, known for his works that explored themes of social realism and the struggles of the working class.
Bernt Balchen (1899-1994), a Norwegian-American aviator, gained fame as a pioneer of polar aviation and for his daring rescues in the Arctic regions during the early 20th century.
Lastly, Bernt Evensen (1923-2002) was a highly respected Norwegian diplomat and lawyer who served as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe from 1972 to 1984, playing a vital role in promoting human rights and democracy across the continent.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bernt
People
Bernt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernt 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
Bernt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernt 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Bernt a common name?
We classify Bernt as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernt most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernt was 1927, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernt is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bernt in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Bernt, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Bernt 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 Bernt?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bernt appears almost entirely male. Of the 165 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bernt?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernt is White at 100.0%. 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 Bernt most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bernt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (163 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 Bernt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernt a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernt 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 Bernt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernt 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 Bernt 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 have the name Bernt?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Bernt, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.