Barney

Did you know?

A few things about Barney you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Barney

Barney Kessel

American jazz guitarist (1923–2004)

Choose Barney and your child shares a first name with Barney Kessel, an American jazz guitarist. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Barney, like who?” Barney Kessel's Wikipedia article is available in 27 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Barney Kessel on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: vernon.hyde, CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 344,828 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Barney, 5 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Barney would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryBarney has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Barneys, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1887, when it ranked #201. Today it's #12,008, so it could be due a comeback.
• 💬MeaningBarney is an English form of Barnabas, which means “son of consolation”. Our records link it to Arabic, English and Hebrew roots.

About the name Barney

Barney is a boy name of Arabic, English and Hebrew origin meaning “son of consolation”. It has 6 letters and 2 syllables, starting with B and ending in “-ney”. US birth records list Barney for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 134 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1887, when it ranked #201 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #12,008, with 5 babies.

Origin:Arabic namesEnglish namesHebrew names