Berkley: name meaning, origin & popularity
- Meaning
- “birch wood clearing”
- Origin
- Old English
- Say it
- BERK-lee · 2 syllables
- Used for
- Both (71% girls, 29% boys since 1880)
From an English surname and place name, from Old English beorc 'birch' and leah 'woodland clearing'. This spelling is a variant of Berkeley/Barkley-type surname usage.
How popular is Berkley?
Babies named Berkley in 2024341
2024 rank#879 girls
Peak year2021
Total US babies since 18807,377
Berkley is rising: use over the last five years is 1.6× what it was a decade earlier.
Names like Berkley
Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.
Berkley questions
What does the name Berkley mean?
Berkley means "birch wood clearing". It comes from Old English. From an English surname and place name, from Old English beorc 'birch' and leah 'woodland clearing'. This spelling is a variant of Berkeley/Barkley-type surname usage.
Is Berkley a boy or girl name?
Berkley is used for both: about 71% of US babies named Berkley since 1880 were girls.
How popular is Berkley?
341 US babies were named Berkley in 2024. Its peak year was 2021.
How do you pronounce Berkley?
Berkley is usually pronounced BERK-lee.
Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.