About us
We have just established our own Barney Project. Previously we joined with the Barnett DNA Project. As more members joined our group we felt strong enough to venture off and declare our independence by creating our own project group.
One if the first questions one has is the origins of their surname. The Dictionary of American Surnames tells us Barney is a familiar abbreviation or corruption of Bernard, or Barnard.
From another source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).
1. habitational name from Barney in Norfolk, which is probably named with an Old English personal name Bera (with genitive -n) + Old English eg ‘island’, ‘dry ground in a marsh’.
2. from the personal name Barney, a pet form of Bernard.
According to Britishsurnames.co.uk Barney is clearly a British ethnic surname. With 99.01% of the people named Barney in the British Isles, England claims 97.93% of the families while Ireland claims .72%, Scotland.27% and Wales .09%.
Geographically, according to britishsurnames.co.uk most of the Barneys are found in England, nearly none in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Surname Geographical Summary:
Country Total Rate/million as a percentage to GB
Great Britain at 1000 n/a
Northern Ireland at 0 or 0%
Republic of Ireland at 0 or 0%
Austrailia at 25.98 or 99.60%
New Zealand at 6.57 or 25.20%
United States at 102.25 or 391.90%
Canada at 39.13 or 150.00%
The top area to find Barneys in England in 1881 was Hemel Hempstead
In 1998 it was Southampton.
The top state in Austrailia to find Barneys is Queensland
The top area of New Zealand to find Barneys is Otago
The top area in the United States is Utah.
One if the first questions one has is the origins of their surname. The Dictionary of American Surnames tells us Barney is a familiar abbreviation or corruption of Bernard, or Barnard.
From another source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).
1. habitational name from Barney in Norfolk, which is probably named with an Old English personal name Bera (with genitive -n) + Old English eg ‘island’, ‘dry ground in a marsh’.
2. from the personal name Barney, a pet form of Bernard.
According to Britishsurnames.co.uk Barney is clearly a British ethnic surname. With 99.01% of the people named Barney in the British Isles, England claims 97.93% of the families while Ireland claims .72%, Scotland.27% and Wales .09%.
Geographically, according to britishsurnames.co.uk most of the Barneys are found in England, nearly none in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Surname Geographical Summary:
Country Total Rate/million as a percentage to GB
Great Britain at 1000 n/a
Northern Ireland at 0 or 0%
Republic of Ireland at 0 or 0%
Austrailia at 25.98 or 99.60%
New Zealand at 6.57 or 25.20%
United States at 102.25 or 391.90%
Canada at 39.13 or 150.00%
The top area to find Barneys in England in 1881 was Hemel Hempstead
In 1998 it was Southampton.
The top state in Austrailia to find Barneys is Queensland
The top area of New Zealand to find Barneys is Otago
The top area in the United States is Utah.