Bir

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Beer in US United States, ZA South Africa, GB United Kingdom and 7 more, Baru in ID Indonesia, VN Vietnam, Bor in TR Türkiye, PL Poland and Bari in IN India.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 21 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bir is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name51K records spelled Bir2 spellings in the group

  Also written Bīr

• Turkmen name9.6K records spelled Bir6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Turkmenistan

  Also written Bīr, Bïr, Bįr

• a separate name1.4K records spelled Bir3 spellings in the group

  Also written Bîr

• a separate name300 records spelled Bir6 spellings in the group

  Also written Bîr

• Croatian surname163 records spelled Bir34 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, Netherlands, Kazakhstan

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovenian

  Also written Bureš, Bures, Burg, Bure, Бир

39 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bir is also recorded in 6 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Luxembourgish, superseded spelling of Bier (“pear”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Scottish Gaelic, onomatopoeic alarm noise of a gannet when attacked at night

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In goh, second-person singular imperative of bëran

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• ISO 639-3 language code for Bisorio.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In sga, stake, spit, point; spear, spike

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In gag, the indefinite article, a, an

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 78 years between 1923–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Wilhelm Beerb. 1797DEnot in their usual nameastronomer and banker (1797–1850)
• August Beerb. 1825DEnot in their usual nameGerman scientist (1825-1863)
• George Louis Beerb. 1872USnot in their usual nameAmerican historian
• Edith Hahn Beerb. 1914ATnot in their usual nameAustrian Holocaust survivor (1914-2009)
• Jacqueline Beerb. 1932FRnot in their usual nameFrench actress
• Erich Beerb. 1946DEnot in their usual nameGerman footballer
• Nicola Beerb. 1970DEnot in their usual nameGerman politician
• Eli Beerb. 1973ILnot in their usual nameIsraeli activist; founder of United Hatzalah
• Paula Beerb. 1995DEnot in their usual nameGerman actress
• Madison Beerb. 1999USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer (born 1999)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 184 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bir?

We estimate roughly 65 thousand people bear Bir (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Bir have the most bearers?

Bir is most frequently recorded in Indonesia, where it is most often spelled baru.

How common is Bir compared with other names?

In South Africa, Bir is the 219th most common surname of 302,267 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Bir mean?

Recorded meaning: Borrowed from Punjabi ਬੀਰ (bīr).