Bernard
Masculine · “bear-strong”
Bernard is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 200,087 boys against 983 girls since 1880. See Bernard as a girl name
Napoleon crossed the Great St Bernard pass on a mule. The painting everybody knows shows him on a rearing white horse with his cloak flying, which he commissioned and specified; the guide who actually led him over the ice was a local man on foot, and the animal was borrowed from a farmer.
How old is the name Bernard?
Bernard was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Bernard alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 74,500 people named Bernard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bernard most popular?
Bernard peaked in 1919, reaching #45 nationally. Today it ranks #1362, 1,317 places below that high. See the whole 1919 chart.
Where it comes from
From a Germanic compound of bear and hardy to Bernard
The story of Bernard
David painted the crossing twice, and the version Napoleon asked for is the one that hangs everywhere: calm on a rearing horse, pointing upward, with the names of Hannibal and Charlemagne carved on the rocks below him. He sat for none of it — he sent the hat. A later painter did the truthful version, on the mule, in a grey coat, looking cold, and it is a far better picture of what it is like to cross a mountain in April. The commissioned one is the one on the biscuit tins.
Meaning
bear-strong
The Germanic compound joins the word for a bear to a word for hardy or brave. The bear element is everywhere in Germanic naming — it opens Bernard, Berthold and Bernice's unrelated Greek namesake by coincidence, and it closes Osbert and Humbert in other forms. Northern Europe had bears and named children after them, which the Latin-speaking south did not do.
How the name formed
- a Germanic compound of bear and hardy
- the name spreads with the Normans and the church
- an alpine hospice and its pass take a saint's name
- Napoleon crosses the pass in 1800
- an American peak around the First World War
Related forms: Bernard · Bernhard · Bernardo
Pronouncing Bernard
bur-NARD
Two syllables with the stress at the back in America and at the front in Britain, where it is BER-nud. Both are entirely correct and neither side believes the other.
Nicknames for Bernard
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19244,505 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #45reached in 1919
- Change vs 2022
- −7.4%137 in 2025, from 148
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.
Bernard in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bernard in French — same name
- Bernhard in German — same name
- Bernardo in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Bernards among us
people named Bernard are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 12,468 born in 2025 was named Bernard
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 Russell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bernard's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Russell climbed just as high around 1904, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Russell's path sketches the road Bernard is walking now.
Bernard has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Bernard is headed
Bernard should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Bernard beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bernard in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It works in French, German, Spanish and English without changing a letter.
- Bernie is available and has aged rather well.
- The meaning is concrete, strong and easy to explain.
- The stress placement differs between Britain and America.
- It reads as a grandfather's name at present, which is the position names occupy just before they return.
- A large dog carries the name and children will mention it.
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Bernard
Masculine · #1362 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bernards are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 74,500 people named Bernard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bernard in 2025?
- Bernard ranks #1362 among US boy names in 2025, with 137 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bernard?
- About 1 in every 12,468 US boys born in 2025 was named Bernard — 137 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bernard with classmates?
- Bernard will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bernard
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Warner#1362 · Vince#1362 · Davian#1362 · Bohdi#1366 · Taylen#1358 · Shia#1358 · Holland#1366 · Jeriah#1366
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bernard? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bernard and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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