Berneice
A feminine given name of French origin meaning "she bears a victory".
Name Census estimates that about 328 living Americans carry the first name Berneice. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berneice today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berneice births was 1918 (154 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berneice. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Berneice is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Berneices were born before 1955.
People living today
328
~ 1 in 1,044,983 Americans
Peak year
1918
154 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1976 SSA rank
#9,428
Tracked since 1891
Popularity
Berneice: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berneice from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,080 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berneice 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 Berneice during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Berneices live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Illinois, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Berneice, while Utah, North Dakota, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berneice
The name Berneice is a English feminine given name derived from the Germanic name Bernhard, which itself is composed of the elements "bern" meaning "bear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy". It's believed to have originated in the 8th century as a masculine name among the Franks and other Germanic tribes of Western Europe.
The earliest recorded use of the name Berneice as a feminine form dates back to the late 19th century in English-speaking countries like the United States and Britain. It was likely an anglicized variation of the French feminine name Béatrice, which shares a similar meaning of "she who brings happiness".
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Berneice was Berneice Edna Cooper, an American stage actress born in 1892 who performed on Broadway in the early 20th century. Another early bearer of the name was Berneice Munro, an American golfer born in 1898 who won several amateur tournaments in the 1920s.
In the realm of literature, the name Berneice appeared in the 1949 novel "The Vision of Berneice Mutrux" by American author Stuart Engstrand. The novel's protagonist, a young woman named Berneice Mutrux, experiences a series of visions and spiritual encounters.
Another notable figure named Berneice was Berneice Longley, an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1979 to 1995. She was born in 1912 and was active in promoting women's rights and environmental issues during her tenure.
Berneice Sumten (1910-1989) was an American artist and sculptor known for her works depicting African American subjects and themes. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and had her works exhibited in numerous galleries and museums throughout her career.
While the name Berneice was more popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it has since declined in usage but still holds a place in history as a unique and distinctive feminine name with Germanic origins.
People
Berneice + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berneice 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
Berneice: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berneice?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 328 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berneice 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 1,044,983 US residents.
Is Berneice a common name?
We classify Berneice as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,208 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berneice most popular?
The single biggest year for Berneice was 1918, when 154 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berneice is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Berneice a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berneice 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.
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.