Bernard
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Pronunciation | mainly UK: /ˈbɜːrnərd/ or /ˈbɜːrnəd/ mainly US: /bərˈnɑːrd/[1] French: [bɛʁ.naʁ] Dutch: [ˈbɛrnɑrt] |
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Gender | masculine |
Origin | |
Word/name | West Germanic |
Meaning | Brave as a bear |
Region of origin | medieval Europe |
Other names | |
Related names | Bernie, Barnard, Bernardas, Bearnárd, Bernardo, Beñat, Bernhard, Bernhardt, Bernd, Bernadetta, Bernadette, Berend |
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Look up Bernard or bernard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Bernard (Bernhard) is a French and West Germanic masculine given name.[2]
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic Bernhard is composed from the two elements bern "bear" and hard "brave, hardy".[3] Its native Old English reflex was Beornheard, which was replaced by the French form Bernard that was brought to England after the Norman conquest. The name Bernhard was notably popular among Old Frisian speakers.[4] Its wider use was popularized due to Saint Bernhard of Clairvaux (canonized 1174). Bernard is the second most common surname in France.[5]
Geographical distribution[]
As of 2014, 42.2% of all known bearers of the surname Bernard were residents of France (frequency 1:392), 12.5% of the United States (1:7,203), 7.0% of Haiti (1:382), 6.6% of Tanzania (1:1,961), 4.8% of Canada (1:1,896), 3.6% of Nigeria (1:12,221), 2.7% of Burundi (1:894), 1.9% of Belgium (1:1,500), 1.6% of Rwanda (1:1,745), 1.2% of Germany (1:16,397), 1.2% of Jamaica (1:595), 1.1% of Ghana (1:6,179), 1.0% of England (1:13,691) and 1.0% of Madagascar (1:6,098).
In France, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:392) in the following regions:[6]
- 1. Collectivity of Saint Martin (1:60)
- 2. Saint Barthélemy (1:189)
- 3. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (1:260)
- 4. Nouvelle-Aquitaine (1:283)
- 5. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (1:296)
- 6. Brittany (1:333)
- 7. Pays de la Loire (1:336)
- 8. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (1:348)
- 9. Hauts-de-France (1:391)
List of people with the name[]
The following people and items share the name Bernard.
Given name[]
Catholic saints[]
- Saint Bernard: see Saint Bernard (disambiguation)#People
Medieval[]
- Bernard (bishop of Carlisle) (died 1214), 13th-century Catholic bishop
- Bernard (bishop of Gaeta) (died 1047)
- Bernard (bishop of St Davids) (1115–1148)
- Bernard (son of Charles the Fat) (died 891 or 892), Duke of Alemannia
- Bernard Gui (c. 1260–1331), 14th century inquisitor
- Bernard of Calvo (Bernat Calbó), 13th-century saint and Bishop of Vich
- Bernard of Carinola (died 1109), 12th-century saint and Bishop of Carinola
- Bernard of Cluny, 12th-century Benedictine monk
- Bernard of Kilwinning (d. c. 1331), Scottish abbot and chancellor
- Bernard of Quintavalle (died 1241), companion of St. Francis of Assisi
- Bernard of Verdun, author of the Tractatus super totam astrologiam
Modern[]
- Bernard (footballer) (Bernard Anício Caldeira Duarte), Brazilian footballer
- Bernard Aluwihare (1902–1961), Sri Lankan politician
- Bernard Alvarez, NASCAR racing driver
- Bernard Anício Caldeira Duarte, known as "Bernard", Brazilian footballer
- Bernard Baruch (1870–1965), American financier and political adviser
- Bernard Berrian (born 1980), American football player
- Bernard Blaut (1940–2007), Polish football player
- Bernard Bonnejean (born 1950), French author
- Bernard Boursicot (born 1944), on whom the play M. Butterfly was based
- Bernard Butler (born 1970), English musician
- Bernard Caprasse (born 1949), Belgian politician
- Bernard Cerquiglini (born 1947), French linguist
- Bernard Cottret (1951–2020), French historian
- Bernard Cribbins (born 1928), English children's TV personality, actor and voice artist
- Bernard Ebbers (born 1941), engineered an accounting fraud at WorldCom while he was its CEO
- Bernie Ecclestone (born 1930), British business magnate and primary authority in Formula One
- Bernard Edwards (American football) (born 1969), American football player
- Bernard Fanning (born 1969), Australian singer, Powderfinger
- Bernard Finnigan (born 1972), Australian politician and sex offender
- Bernard T. Feld (1919–1993), 20th century physicist and anti-nuclear activist
- Bernard Fox (Irish republican) (born 1951), Provisional Irish Republican Army member
- Bernard Freeman, birth name of American rapper Bun B
- Bernard Freyberg, New Zealand's most famous soldier and General of World War II
- Bernard Guignedoux (1947–2021), French football player
- Bernard Hall (disambiguation), multiple people
- Bernard Henry (born 1960), American football player
- Bernard Herrmann (1911–1975), American film composer
- Bernard Hill (born 1944), English actor
- Bernard Hinault (born 1954), French cyclist, five-time winner of the Tour de France
- Bernard Hopkins (born 1965), boxer
- Bernard Jayamanna (1908-1965), Sri Lankan Sinhala playwright, director, producer, actor
- Bernard Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan businessman and politician
- Bernard Kalb (born 1922), American broadcast journalist
- Bernard Koura (1923–2018), French painter
- Bernard Ładysz (1922–2020), Polish singer and actor
- Bernard Lagat (born 1974), Kenyan-American distance runner
- Bernard Looney (born 1969/1970), Irish businessman, CEO of BP
- Bernie Mac (born Bernard McCullough, 1957–2008), comedian and actor
- Bernard Madoff (1938-2021), American stockbroker who engineered a $65 billion Ponzi scheme
- Bernard Malamud (1914–1986), American writer
- Bernard Manning (1930–2007), British stand-up comedian
- Bernard Matthews, English turkey farmer, founder of Bernard Matthews Limited
- Bernard McGinley, American judge
- Bernard Ménétrel (1906–1947), French physician and advisor to Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II
- Bernard Mohlalisi (1933–2020), Mosotho Roman Catholic bishop
- Bernard Montgomery (1887–1976), English military officer
- Bernard Opper (1915–2000), American basketball player
- Bernard Peiris (1908–1977), Sri Lankan lawyer
- Bernard Perera (1956–2012), Sri Lankan cricketer
- Bernard Rajzman (born 1957), Brazilian volleyball player
- Bernard H. "Johnny" Rogers (1905–1977), American politician
- Bernard Sachs (1858–1944), American neurologist
- Bernie Sanders (born 1941), US Senator from Vermont
- Bernard Satenstein (1906–1959), American football player
- Bernard Schuiteman (born 1973), Dutch football player
- George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), usually referred to as "Bernard Shaw", Irish playwright, critic, and essayist
- Bernard Shaw (born 1940), American broadcast journalist
- Bernard Shir-Cliff (1924-2017), American editor
- Bernard Spilsbury (1877–1947), English pathologist
- Bernard Soysa (1914–1997), Sri Lankan Trotskyist
- Bernard Sumner (born 1956), British musician
- Bernard Tapie (1943–2021), French businessman and politician
- Bernie Taupin (born 1950), British songwriter and collaborator with Elton John
- Bernard Tilakaratna (1927–2004), Sri Lankan diplomat
- Bernard Tomic (born 1992), Australian tennis player
- Bernard Vogler (1935–2020), French historian and academic
- Bernard "Bernie" Wolfe (born 1951), Canadian hockey player
- Bernard Wolfman (1924–2011), American dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and law professor
- Bernard Zehrfuss (1911–1996), French architect
Surname[]
- Agnes Bernard (1842–1932), British Roman Catholic nun
- Alain Bernard (born 1983), French swimmer
- Alfred Aloysous Bernard (1888–1949) American vaudeville singer
- Antoine Bernard d'Attanoux (1853–1954), French journalist and explorer
- Armand Bernard (1893–1968), French comic actor and composer
- Brandon Bernard (1980–2020), American convicted murderer
- Carlos Bernard (born 1962), American actor
- Catherine Bernard (1662–1712), French novelist
- Cheryl Bernard (born 1966), Canadian curler
- Claude Bernard (1813–1878), French physiologist
- Crystal Bernard (born 1961), American actress
- Daniel Bernard (disambiguation), multiple people
- Dave Bernard (American football) (born 1912), American football player
- David Bernard (cricketer) (born 1981), West Indian cricketer
- David Bernard (orchestra conductor) (born 1964), American conductor, pianist and clarinetist
- Ed Bernard (born 1939), American actor
- Edward Bernard (1638–1697), English scholar
- Émile Bernard (composer) (1843–1902), French composer and organist
- Émile Bernard (painter) (1868–1941), French painter
- Francis Bernard (disambiguation), multiple people
- Giovani Bernard, American football player
- Henri Bernard (1899–1986), French judge
- Henri Bernard (1900–1967), French hurdler
- Henry Boyle Bernard (1812–1895), Irish Conservative Party politician, MP for Bandon 1863–68
- Henry Bernard, designer of the Palace of Europe, the seat of the Council of Europe
- Hilda Bernard (born 1920), Argentine actress
- Jacques Bernard (born 1929), French actor
- Jay Bernard FRSL (born 1988), British writer.
- Jean-David Bernard (born 1977), French rower
- Jean-Pierre Bernard (born 1933), French actor
- Jeffrey Bernard (1932–1997), English journalist
- John Henry Bernard (1860–1927) Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin
- Joseph E. Bernard (1880–1958), American character actor
- Joseph Karl Bernard (c.1781–1850), Austrian journalist and librettist
- Laurent Bernard (born 1971), French basketball player
- Lawrence G. Bernard (1914-1997), rear admiral in the U.S. Navy
- Léonce Bernard (1943–2013), Canadian politician
- Lucas M. Bernard, American financial economist
- Marvin Bernard, American rapper, better known by his stage name Tony Yayo
- Michel Bernard (disambiguation), multiple people
- Nikhil Bernard, Indian footballer
- Oliver Bernard (1925–2013), English poet and translator
- Oliver Percy Bernard (1881–1939), English architect and scenic designer
- Raymond Bernard (1891–1977), French film director and screenwriter
- Raymond W. Bernard (1903–1965), early 20th-century American alternative health, esoteric writer, author, and mystic
- Rod Bernard (1940–2020), American singer
- Samuel Bernard (1615–1687), French miniature painter
- Sherman A. Bernard (1925–2012), Louisiana politician
- Susan Bernard (1948–2019), American actress and author
- Suzanne Bernard (1892–1910), French aviator
- Tristan Bernard (1866–1947), French playwright and novelist
- William Bernard (disambiguation), multiple people
Fictional characters[]
Given name[]
- Bernard (TV shorts), the curious polar bear from the animation series Bernard[7]
- Bernard, a character from Blackadder II, who is usually only called by her title: Nursie
- Bernard, a character from Megamind
- Bernard, a character from The Waves
- Bernard, a mouse from The Rescuers books and films
- Bernard, the Sea Hag's pet vulture in the Popeye comics/cartoons
- Bernarda Alba, the mother in Federico García Lorca's drama, La casa de Bernarda Alba
- Bernard Beasley, a character from the children's programme Bernard's Watch
- Bernard Bernoulli, a character from Maniac Mansion
- Bernard Black, a character from Black Books
- Bernard "Barney" Fife, deputy sheriff of Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show
- Bernard Lowe, a character from Westworld
- Bernard Marx from Brave New World
- Bernard Nadler, a character from the television show Lost
- Bernard the Arch-elf, The Head elf from Disney's Santa Clause Movies
- Bernard the Bee Boy, a boy raised by bees seen in two commercials for Honey Comb cereal
- Bernard Wiseman, a character from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
- Bernard Woolley, a character from Yes Minister
- Bernard Mickey Wrangle, an explosive character from Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
- Bernardo, Zorro's companion
- Giant Bernard, wrestling name of Matt Bloom
- Bernie Lomax The Boss who dies in the 80's comedy film Weekend at Bernie's
Surname[]
- Andy Bernard, character on the United States television series The Office
See also[]
- All pages with titles containing Bernard
- All pages with titles beginning with Bernard
- Barnard (disambiguation)
- Barney (disambiguation)
- Bernat (disambiguation)
- Bernhard (disambiguation)
- Grand Rivers, Kentucky, United States, formerly known as Bernard
- Saint Bernard (disambiguation)
References[]
- ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
- ^ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse 1980. p. 38, New completed edition by Marie-Thérèse Morlet.
- ^ "Name Meaning and Origin". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2013-06-16.. T. F. Hoad, English Etymology, Oxford University Press 1993. p. 36.
- ^ Die Kosenamen der Germanen: Eine Studie, Franz Stark, 1868 (German)
- ^ "