Berth or birth?
berth is a noun meaning “A place for a vessel to lie at anchor or to moor”; birth is a noun meaning “The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human…”. They sound the same (/bɜːθ/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) birth is about 21 times as common as berth.
What is the difference between berth and birth?
| berth | birth | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, adjective, verb |
| Meaning | A place for a vessel to lie at anchor or to moor A room in a vessel in which the officers or company mess (“eat together”) and reside; also, a room or other place in a vessel for storage To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1); also, to provide a berth for (a vessel) | The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the… An instance of childbirth A familial relationship established by childbirth |
| Example | none recorded | Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births |
| Forms | berths | births |
| Pronunciation | /bɜːθ/ /bɜɹθ/ /bɛɹθ/ | /bɜːθ/ /bɜːð/ /bɜɹθ/ |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words | 59 times per million words |
Sources: berth and birth in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of berth and birth
berth
- 1
A place for a vessel to lie at anchor or to moor
- 2
To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1); also, to provide a berth for (a vessel)
- 3
A room in a vessel in which the officers or company mess (“eat together”) and reside; also, a room or other place in a vessel for storage
- 4
To use a device to bring (a spacecraft) into its berth or dock
- 5
A place on a vessel to sleep, especially a bed on the side of a cabin
- 6
To assign (someone) a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.3 or etymology 1, noun sense 2.2) or place to sleep on a vessel, a train, etc
- 7
A job or position on a vessel
- 8
To provide (someone) with a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 3.1) or appointment, job, or position
birth
- 1
The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment
- 2
A familial relationship established by childbirth
Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather
- 3
To bear or give birth to (a child)
- 4
An instance of childbirth
Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births
- 5
To produce, give rise to
- 6
A beginning or start; a point of origin
the birth of an empire
- 7
The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing
He was of noble birth, but fortune had not favored him
- 8
That which is born
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, berth or birth?
berth appears 2.8 times per million words; birth 59 times per million words.
berth 2.8 times per million wordsbirth 59 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search berth vs birth?
“berth vs birth” is searched about 170 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“birth vs berth”, “berth or birth”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.