Barney
Usually a shortened form of Bernard or Barnard, though in some cases it may come from place-names in England.
The #2,224 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,821 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barney is most often explained as a familiar short form of Bernard or Barnard. Those older names go back to Germanic elements meaning “bear” and “hardy, strong, brave,” so the surname ultimately carries the sense of a bear-like or strong man. Some 19th-century surname writers also linked Barney to English place-names, especially Norfolk forms, so a minority of bearers may have locational origins instead.
History
The name appears in medieval and later English records in several spellings, and dictionary writers of the 19th century treated it mainly as a pet form of Bernard/Barnard. It also turns up in Norfolk and other English county records, which may reflect both surname formation from personal names and occasional local-place influence. In modern usage it is well established in the English-speaking world, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname dictionaries noted Barney alongside Barnum and other names they thought had been reshaped from local English place-names, showing how fluid spelling could be in earlier centuries.
From the historical record
“Peerage. BARNEY. 1. A parish in Norfolk. 2. A contracted form of Barnabas and of Barnard. BARNFATHER. See Balrnsfather. B ARNPIELD. A hundred in Kent, and places in other counties. BARNHA^M. Parishes in Sussex, Suf- folk, and Norfolk. Barnum is a corruption of it.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom