Declining since 2019, #3,130 for girls today.
Popularity of Berklee since 1992
Babies named Berklee per year in U.S. Social Security records.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 17 |
| 2000s | 137 |
| 2010s | 677 |
| 2020s | 411 |
Meaning & origin
Berklee is a modern American name that first appeared in 1992 and saw its peak popularity in 2018, with a ranking of 3130 in the most recent year (2025), where about 1 in 31,515 newborns received the name. Its trajectory has been falling since 2019, indicating a trend that may continue to decline. The name is most likely a respelling of the surname Berkeley, which itself derives from Old English elements meaning 'birch wood', though the influence of the celebrated Berklee College of Music cannot be discounted. As a unisex name leaning heavily toward girls, Berklee fits the contemporary pattern of occupational or surname-inspired names with a feminine -ee ending.
Berklee is a modern invented name, first recorded in the United States in 1992. It appears to be a respelling of Berkeley, a surname of Old English origin meaning 'birch wood' (from beorc 'birch' and leah 'wood, clearing'). The name may also have been influenced by the Berklee College of Music in Boston, founded in 1945. Its rise in the 2010s suggests a fashionable coinage with -ee suffix.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Berky, Lee
Sibling names for Berklee
Names that share Berklee's style, for a brother or sister.
