How common is the surname Bern?

741 people in the United States had the surname Bern in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 416,661 Americans. It ranked 31,285th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Bern?

In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Bern identified as white (not Hispanic), and 4.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Where is the surname Bern most common?

Wikidata records people named Bern in the United States.

Is the surname Bern getting more or less common?

Less common. 765 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 741 in 2010, down 3.1%.

Is Bern also a first name?

Yes. Bern is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Bern

A surname, carried by 741 people in the United States.

Pronounced /bɝn/ 1 syllable Soundex B650

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Bern is more common than 80.7% of them.

Origin

From Alemannic German Bärn, of uncertain further origin. A popular folk etymology says it was named by its founder, Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, after the first animal he saw in the area, a Bär(in) (“bear”) (compare Berlin, subject to a similar folk etymology). The name is now thought to be connected to a Celtic word, Proto-Celtic *berna (“cleft”) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to carve out, cut”)) and *branos (“raven”) (compare the name ΒΡΕΝΟΔΩΡ (BRENODŌR), on the Bern zinc tablet, which has also been connected with the Gaulish name Brennus). More at Bern.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 741 people named Bern in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 416,661 Americans. That is down 3.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 765.

#31,285

rank among US surnames

741

people in 2010

0.3

per 100,000 Americans

-3.1%

change since 2000 (was #29,181)

Who is named Bern

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

88% of people named Bern identified as white (not Hispanic), 4.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 3.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4.3%
Two or more races 3.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Berns

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Dan Bern
American musician, born 1965

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Berne

Surnames that sound like Bern

Bern has the Soundex code B650, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B650.

Questions

Where does the surname Bern come from?: From Alemannic German Bärn, of uncertain further origin. A popular folk etymology says it was named by its founder, Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, after the first animal he saw in the area, a Bär(in) (“bear”) (compare Berlin, subject to a similar folk etymology). The name is now thought to be…
How common is the surname Bern?: 741 people in the United States had the surname Bern in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 416,661 Americans. It ranked 31,285th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Bern?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Bern identified as white (not Hispanic), and 4.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Bern?: Dan Bern, American musician.
Where is the surname Bern most common?: Wikidata records people named Bern in the United States.
How do you pronounce Bern?: Bern is /bɝn/, one syllable.
Is the surname Bern getting more or less common?: Less common. 765 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 741 in 2010, down 3.1%.
What are other spellings of Bern?: Berne.
Is Bern also a first name?: Yes. Bern is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.