Bernard
Bernard is a West Germanic masculine given name.
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". Its native Old English reflex was Beornheard, which was replaced by the Old French form Bernard after the Norman conquest.
The name Bernhard was notably popular among Old Frisian speakers.
Its wider use was popularized due to Saint Bernhard of Clairvaux.
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 42.2% of all known bearers of the surname Bernard were residents of France, 12.5% of the United States, 7.0% of Haiti, 6.6% of Tanzania, 4.8% of Canada, 3.6% of Nigeria, 2.7% of Burundi, 1.9% of Belgium, 1.6% of Rwanda, 1.2% of Germany, 1.2% of Jamaica, 1.1% of Ghana, 1.0% of England and 1.0% of Madagascar.In France, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following regions:
- 1. Collectivity of Saint Martin
- 2. Saint Barthélemy
- 3. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
- 4. Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- 5. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- 6. Brittany
- 7. Pays de la Loire
- 8. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- 9. Hauts-de-France
List of people with the name
Given name
Catholic saints
- Saint Bernard: see Saint Bernard #People
Medieval
- Bernard , 13th-century Catholic bishop
- Bernard
- Bernard
- Bernard , Duke of Alemannia
- Bernard Gui, 14th century inquisitor
- Bernard of Calvo, 13th-century saint and Bishop of Vich
- Bernard of Carinola, 12th-century saint and Bishop of Carinola
- Bernard of Cluny, 12th-century Benedictine monk
- Bernard of Kilwinning, Scottish abbot and chancellor
- Bernard of Quintavalle, companion of St. Francis of Assisi
- Bernard of Verdun, author of the Tractatus super totam astrologiam
Modern
- Bernard , Brazilian footballer
- Bernard Alvarez, NASCAR racing driver
- Bernard Anício Caldeira Duarte, known as "Bernard", Brazilian footballer
- Bernard Baruch, American financier and political adviser
- Bernard Berrian, American football player
- Bernard Blaut, Polish football player
- Bernard Boursicot, on whom the play M. Butterfly was based
- Bernard Butler, English musician
- Bernard Caprasse, Belgian politician
- Bernard Cerquiglini, French linguist
- Bernard Cribbins, English children's TV personality, actor and voice artist
- Bernard Ebbers, engineered an accounting fraud at WorldCom while he was its CEO
- Bernie Ecclestone, British business magnate and primary authority in Formula One
- Bernard Edwards , American football player
- Bernard Fanning, Australian singer, Powderfinger
- Bernard Finnigan, Australian politician and sex offender
- Bernard T. Feld, 20th century physicist and anti-nuclear activist
- Bernard Fox , 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 Hall, multiple people
- Bernard Henry, American football player
- Bernard Herrmann, American film composer
- Bernard Hill, English actor
- Bernard Hinault, French cyclist, five-time winner of the Tour de France
- Bernard Hopkins, boxer
- Bernard Kalb, American broadcast journalist
- Bernard Koura, French painter
- Bernard Lagat, Kenyan-American distance runner
- Bernard LeBas, American pharmacist and politician
- Bernard Looney, Irish businessman, CEO-designate of BP
- Bernie Mac, comedian and actor
- Bernard Madoff, American stockbroker who engineered a $65 billion Ponzi scheme
- Bernard Malamud, American writer
- Bernard Manning, British stand-up comedian
- Bernard Matthews, English turkey farmer, founder of Bernard Matthews Limited
- Bernard McGinley, American judge
- Bernard Ménétrel, French physician and advisor to Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II
- Bernard Montgomery, English military officer
- Bernard Opper, American basketball player
- Bernard Rajzman, Brazilian volleyball player
- Bernard H. "Johnny" Rogers, American politician
- Bernard Sachs, American neurologist
- Bernie Sanders, US Senator from Vermont
- Bernard Satenstein, American football player
- Bernard Schuiteman, Dutch football player
- George Bernard Shaw, usually referred to as "Bernard Shaw", Irish playwright, critic, and essayist
- Bernard Shaw, American broadcast journalist
- Bernard Spilsbury, English pathologist
- Bernard Sumner, British musician
- Bernard Tapie, French politician
- Bernie Taupin, British songwriter and collaborator with Elton John
- Bernard Tomic, Australian tennis player
- Bernard "Bernie" Wolfe, Canadian hockey player
- Bernard Wolfman, American dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and law professor
Surname
- Agnes Bernard, British Roman Catholic nun
- Alain Bernard, French swimmer
- Alfred Aloysous Bernard American vaudeville singer
- Antoine Bernard d'Attanoux, French journalist and explorer
- Carlos Bernard, American actor
- Catherine Bernard, French novelist
- Cheryl Bernard, Canadian curler
- Claude Bernard, French physiologist
- Crystal Bernard, American actress
- Daniel Bernard, multiple people
- Dave Bernard , American football player
- David Bernard , West Indian cricketer
- David Bernard , American conductor, pianist and clarinetist
- Ed Bernard, American actor
- Edward Bernard, English scholar
- Émile Bernard , French composer and organist
- Émile Bernard , French painter
- Francis Bernard, multiple people
- Giovani Bernard, American football player
- Henry Boyle Bernard, 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, Argentine actress
- Jay Bernard FRSL, British writer.
- Jean-Pierre Bernard, French actor
- Jeffrey Bernard, English journalist
- John Henry Bernard Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin
- Joseph E. Bernard, American character actor
- Joseph Karl Bernard, Austrian journalist and librettist
- Léonce Bernard, Canadian politician
- Lucas M. Bernard, American financial economist
- Marvin Bernard, American rapper, better known by his stage name Tony Yayo
- Michel Bernard, multiple people
- Nikhil Bernard, Indian footballer
- Oliver Bernard, English poet and translator
- Oliver Percy Bernard, English architect and scenic designer
- Raymond Bernard French film director and screenwriter
- Raymond W. Bernard early 20th-century American alternative health, esoteric writer, author, and mystic
- Sherman A. Bernard, Louisiana politician
- Susan Bernard, American actress and author
- Suzanne Bernard, French aviator
- Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist
- William Bernard, multiple people
Fictional characters
Given name
- Bernard, the curious polar bear from the animation series Bernard
- 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
Surname
- Andy Bernard, character on the United States television series The Office