Bernadine
Feminine · “bear-brave”
Bernadine is a bear, made feminine and given a French ending. Germanic naming put bears in personal names as freely as it put wolves, and Bernard is the compound that carried the animal furthest.
How old is the name Bernadine?
Bernadine first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Bernadine alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 8,100 people named Bernadine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bernadine most popular?
Bernadine peaked in 1931, reaching #264 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,944 places below that high. See the whole 1931 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From bern + hard to Bernadine
The story of Bernadine
Bernard of Clairvaux was the most influential churchman of the twelfth century, and his name spread across Europe on that account; a later Bernard gave his name to the Alpine pass and its rescue dogs. French formed the feminines Bernadette and Bernadine. Bernadette got a very large push from the visions at Lourdes in 1858; Bernadine rose alongside it in American use and peaked around 1918.
Meaning
bear-brave
Through Bernard, from the Germanic bern, 'bear', and hard, 'brave' or 'hardy'. The bear was among the most admired animals in Germanic imagery, and it appears in Bernard, Bernhard, Björn and Beorn. The -ine ending is a French diminutive carrying affection rather than meaning.
How the name formed
- bern + hard
- Bernard
- Bernadine
Related forms: Bernadine · Bernadette · Bernardina · Bernardina
Pronouncing Bernadine
BUR-nuh-deen
Three syllables, stress on the first, with a secondary stress on the last. French moves the main stress to the end.
Nicknames for Bernadine
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most girls named
- 1924563 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #264reached in 1931
- Change vs 2021
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bernadine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bernadine in French — same name
- Bernadette in French — related form
- Bernardina in Italian — related form
- Bernardina in Spanish — related form
Bernadines among us
people named Bernadine are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Bernadine
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Iola test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bernadine's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Iola climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Iola's path sketches the road Bernadine is walking now.
Bernadine sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Bernadine beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bernadine in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The bear-brave meaning is vivid and both elements are thoroughly documented.
- It is standard in French, Italian and Spanish, so it crosses borders unchanged.
- Bernie and Dina are both available and could hardly be more different.
- Bernadette is far commoner and will often be assumed.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century in American records.
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What they receive
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Bernadine
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bernadines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,100 people named Bernadine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bernadine in 2025?
- Bernadine ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bernadine?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Bernadine — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bernadine with classmates?
- Bernadine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bernadine
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Euna#13208 · Jack#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bernadine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bernadine and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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