How rare is the name Bernard?

82,518 people in the United States have the first name Bernard, about 1 in 3,660. It ranks #641 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BERNARD

#641

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
82,518
About
1 in 3,660
This common or more
62.9%
Who bears it

Of the 82,518 people named Bernard, 64.8% reported their origin as White, 25.9% as Black and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Bernard peaked in 1924, when 4,524 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1924
Births that year
4,524
In 2025*
137 ▼97%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 201,070 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Bernard by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1920s, when it ranked #112. The largest share of babies named Bernard, 31.6%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2311,616
1890s#2562,320
1900s#2433,301
1910s#11725,748
1920s#11242,661
1930s#15330,685
1940s#21626,531
1950s#27225,992
1960s#36417,598
1970s#5159,183
1980s#6846,563
1990s#1,0784,167
2000s#1,8952,252
2010s#2,5491,608
2020s#2,806845
Before 19012.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–2731.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4526.9%
Baby boom 1946–6423.5%
Generation X 1965–808.6%
Millennials 1981–964.5%
Generation Z 1997–121.8%
2013 and later1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Bernard is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Bernard has been most common in Vermont (3.9×), District of Columbia (2.9×), and New York (2×), and least common in Utah (0.06×).

189,615 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Bernard

#639 Clarence · 82,717#640 Leonardo · 82,530#642 Ashton · 82,425#643 Madelyn · 82,365

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Bernard, most common first.

#1,605 Bernardo · 19,954#6,215 Bernarda · 2,604#9,181 Bernhard · 1,534#40,339 Bernhardt · 185#40,593 Bernerd · 183#49,660 Berner · 124

Also a last name

As a last name, Bernard ranks #908 of 156,621, with 37,873 people. See Bernard as a last name

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