Bernadett
A feminine name of Hungarian origin meaning "brave as a bear".
Name Census estimates that about 149 living Americans carry the first name Bernadett. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bernadett today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernadett births was 1959 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernadett. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
149
~ 1 in 2,300,365 Americans
Peak year
1959
16 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1986 SSA rank
#11,080
Tracked since 1945
Census
Bernadett in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 359 people with the first name Bernadett, which placed it at #26,116 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#26,116
National first-name rank
People counted
359
359 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bernadett
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernadett is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Hispanic (12.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bernadett described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bernadett at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.8% · 229
- Black or African American17.0% · 61
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 5
Popularity
Bernadett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernadett from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 82 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bernadett by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bernadett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernadett
Bernadett is a feminine given name derived from the French name Bernardette, which itself is a diminutive form of the male name Bernard. The name Bernard has its origins in the Germanic compound name "Bernhard," composed of the elements "bern" meaning "bear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy."
The name Bernadett gained prominence due to its association with Saint Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879), a French Catholic mystic and visionary. Bernadette is best known for her reported visions of the Virgin Mary in the nearby town of Lourdes, which later became a major site of pilgrimage and healing.
Although the name Bernadett is primarily associated with French and Catholic traditions, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 12th century, referring to Bernadette of Béthune, a Benedictine abbess and scholar from Flanders.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bernadett or its variations. For example, Bernadette Devlin (1947-), an Irish political activist and former Member of Parliament, advocated for civil rights and opposed violence during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Bernadette Lazzara (1938-2017) was an American singer and actress, best known for her role as Sister Bernadette in the Broadway musical "The Sound of Music." Bernadette Renaud (1943-2016) was a prominent French actress and comedian, renowned for her versatility and comedic timing on stage and screen.
Bernadette Schild (1976-) is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist, who dominated the technical events of slalom and giant slalom in the early 2000s. Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (1947-) is a prominent Irish republican activist and former Member of Parliament, known for her involvement in the civil rights movement and opposition to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The name Bernadett has been widely adopted across various cultures and regions, transcending its French and Catholic origins. Its association with Saint Bernadette Soubirous and the visions of Lourdes has contributed to its enduring popularity and significance within religious and cultural contexts.
People
Bernadett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernadett as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bernadett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernadett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 149 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernadett going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,300,365 US residents.
Is Bernadett a common name?
We classify Bernadett as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernadett most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernadett was 1959, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernadett is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bernadett in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 359 people with the name Bernadett, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,116 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bernadett in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bernadett?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bernadett appears almost entirely female. Of the 357 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bernadett?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernadett is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Hispanic (12.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bernadett most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bernadett in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (229 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bernadett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernadett a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernadett in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bernadett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernadett in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bernadett can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Bernadett?
You can see how many people share the name Bernadett on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.