Bernardo
Derived from Germanic components meaning "brave bear".
Name Census estimates that about 9,463 living Americans carry the first name Bernardo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bernardo today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernardo births was 1995 (240 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernardo. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bernardo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
9.5K
~ 1 in 36,220 Americans
Peak year
1995
240 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,334
Tracked since 1888
Census
Bernardo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 19,951 people with the first name Bernardo, which placed it at #1,605 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
#1,605
National first-name rank
People counted
20K
19,951 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bernardo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernardo is Hispanic at 85.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%). 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 Bernardo 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 Bernardo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.0% · 16,962
- White7.2% · 1,437
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 1,176
- Black or African American1.4% · 286
- Two or more races0.3% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 22
Popularity
Bernardo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernardo from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,977 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Bernardo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bernardo 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 Bernardo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bernardos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Bernardo, while Virginia, South Carolina, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 416 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernardo
The name Bernardo is of Italian origin, derived from the Germanic name Bernhard, which is a compound of the words "bern" meaning bear and "hard" meaning hardy, brave or strong. This name was popular among the Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled much of the Italian Peninsula from the 6th to the 8th century.
The name Bernardo gained widespread popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe. It was often associated with strength, courage, and fortitude, reflecting the qualities attributed to the bear in Germanic culture. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bernardo can be found in the writings of the Venerable Bede, an English monk and scholar from the 8th century.
In the 11th century, Saint Bernardo of Quintavalle, an Italian nobleman and one of the early followers of Saint Francis of Assisi, popularized the name further. His devotion to the Franciscan ideals of poverty and service to the poor inspired many to take on his name.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Bernardo. One of the most prominent was Bernardo Tolomei (1272-1348), an Italian jurist and founder of the Benedictine Congregation of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto. Another was Bernardo Dovizi (1470-1520), an Italian cardinal and statesman who served as a papal legate under Pope Leo X.
In the realm of literature, Bernardo Tasso (1493-1569), an Italian poet and father of the renowned writer Torquato Tasso, made significant contributions to Renaissance poetry. The name Bernardo also graced the arts, with Bernardo Buontalenti (1536-1608), an Italian architect and stage designer, leaving his mark on the architectural landscape of Florence.
Moving into the modern era, Bernardo O'Higgins (1778-1842), a Chilean independence leader and one of the principal founders of the Republic of Chile, stands as a prominent figure bearing this name. His efforts in liberating Chile from Spanish rule cemented his place in history.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Bernardo throughout the centuries, reflecting its enduring popularity and the diverse fields in which it has been embraced.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bernardo
People
Bernardo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernardo 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
Bernardo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernardo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,463 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernardo 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 36,220 US residents.
Is Bernardo a common name?
We classify Bernardo as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,034 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernardo most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernardo was 1995, when 240 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernardo is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bernardo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 19,951 people with the name Bernardo, or 6.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,605 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 Bernardo 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 Bernardo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bernardo appears almost entirely male. Of the 19,954 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bernardo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernardo is Hispanic at 85.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%). 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 Bernardo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Bernardo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (16,962 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 Bernardo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernardo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernardo in the SSA data are male. 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 Bernardo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernardo 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 Bernardo 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 people share the name Bernardo?
Want to know how many people have the name Bernardo? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.