Berniece
Feminine · “bringer of victory”
Berniece is Bernice with an extra e, and the name underneath is a Macedonian queen's — with a constellation attached, which very few names on any chart can say.
How old is the name Berniece?
Berniece first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Berniece alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 1,300 people named Berniece are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Berniece most popular?
Berniece peaked in 1918, reaching #291 nationally. See the whole 1918 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Pherenike to Berniece
The story of Berniece
Berenike was a royal name in Ptolemaic Egypt. Berenice II dedicated a lock of her hair for her husband's safe return from war; when it vanished from the temple, the court astronomer announced the gods had set it in the sky, and the constellation Coma Berenices still carries her name. A later Berenice appears in Acts, which carried the name into Christian use. Berniece is the American respelling and peaked around 1920.
Meaning
bringer of victory
From the Greek Pherenike — pherein, 'to bring', and nike, 'victory'. Macedonian Greek turned the initial ph into a b, giving Berenike, and Latin and English followed. The nike element is the same one in the name of the goddess of victory.
How the name formed
- Pherenike
- Berenike
- Bernice
- Berniece
Related forms: Bérénice · Berenice · Bernice
Pronouncing Berniece
bur-NEECE
Two syllables, stress on the second. Berniece and Bernice are said identically.
Nicknames for Berniece
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
- 1886
- Most girls named
- 1917422 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #291reached in 1918
- Change vs 2010
- 0.0%6 in 2013, from 6
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.
Berniece in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bérénice in French — related form
- Berenice in Italian — related form
- Bernice in English — spelling variant
Bernieces among us
people named Berniece are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Berniece has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- A documented royal name reaching back to Ptolemaic Egypt, with a constellation attached.
- The meaning is transparent and undisputed, which is rare for a name this old.
- It has a formal register that many names of its period lack.
- Bernice is the standard spelling and the two are easily confused.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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Berniece
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Bernieces are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Berniece are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Berniece in 2025?
- Berniece is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Berniece with classmates?
- Berniece will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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