Bernard

French: [bɛʁ.naʁ]
Dutch: [ˈbɛrnɑrt]GendermasculineOriginLanguage(s)West GermanicMeaningBrave as a bearRegion of originmedieval EuropeOther namesRelated namesBernie, Barnard, Bernardas, Bearnárd, Bernardo, Beñat, Bernhard, Bernhardt, Bernd, Bernt, Bernadetta, Bernadette, Berend, Pearu, Pääru

Bernard (Bernhard) is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname.[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 cognate was Beornheard, which was replaced or merged with 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 in 1174).

Geographical distribution

Bernard is the second most common surname in France.[5]

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]

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, son of Charles Martel (c. 720 – 787), Abbot of St. Quentin
  • 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 (died 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

Surname

Fictional characters

Given name

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

  1. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  2. ^ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse 1980. p. 38, New completed edition by Marie-Thérèse Morlet.
  3. ^ "Name Meaning and Origin". Ancestry.com.. T. F. Hoad, English Etymology, Oxford University Press 1993. p. 36.
  4. ^ Die Kosenamen der Germanen: Eine Studie, Franz Stark, 1868 (German)
  5. ^ "🇫🇷 Most Common Last Names In France". forebears.io. Archived from the original on 2021-02-07.
  6. ^ Bernard surname distribution
  7. ^ Bernard (TV series)
Name list
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