# Barnes (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/barnes/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 218,241 |
| US rank (2010) | 110 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,415 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.7% (210,426 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /bɑɹnz/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from the place on the bank of the Thames, derived from the root of the noun barn. * Also as an English surname, variant of Barne, from both a Middle English personal name from Old Norse Bjǫrn and Old English Beorn, and from the noun barn (“child”). Semantically compare Child. * As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Bearáin (literally “descendant of Bearán”), a byname from bior (“spear”). * As a French surname, variant of Bernes, from a short form of a Germanic name derived from Frankish *berō (“bear”), similar to Bernhard. * As a Jewish surname, variant of Parnes, from Yiddish פּרנס (prns), from Hebrew פַּרְנָס (“leader of a Jewish community, provider”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Barnes in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 65% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 29% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Barnes in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Jamaica, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of England.

## People named Barnes

- Djuna Barnes, American Modernist writer, poet and artist (1892-1982)
- Ben Barnes, British actor and singer
- John Barnes, association football player and manager (born 1963)
- Randy Barnes, American shot putter
- Matt Barnes, American basketball player (born 1980)
- Paddy Barnes, boxer
- Scottie Barnes, American basketball player (born 2001)
- Chris Barnes, American death metal vocalist
- Christopher Daniel Barnes, American actor and singer
- Lee Barnes, American athletics competitor
- Priscilla Barnes, American actress (born 1953)
- George Barnes, American cinematographer (1892-1953)

and 48 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Burns, Briones, Byrnes, Bruns, Berens, Berns, Burnes, Brenes, Byrns, Barringer, Baranowski, Barnhouse.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.