Bernerd
Derived from the Germanic name 'Bernard', meaning brave or hardy bear.
Name Census estimates that about 160 living Americans carry the first name Bernerd. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bernerd today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernerd births was 1920 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernerd. 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 Bernerd is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bernerds were born before 1963.
People living today
160
~ 1 in 2,142,215 Americans
Peak year
1920
23 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1976 SSA rank
#5,681
Tracked since 1911
Census
Bernerd in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 184 people with the first name Bernerd, which placed it at #40,443 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
#40,443
National first-name rank
People counted
184
184 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bernerd
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernerd is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Bernerd 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 Bernerd at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2% · 153
- Black or African American10.3% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 7
- Two or more races2.7% · 5
Popularity
Bernerd: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernerd from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 151 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
Bernerd 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 Bernerd during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bernerds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernerd
The name Bernerd is of Germanic origin, derived from the elements "bern" meaning "bear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy". It can be traced back to the Early Middle Ages, around the 6th or 7th century AD, when various Germanic tribes migrated across Europe. The name was likely initially used among the Franks or Alemanni tribes in what is now modern-day Germany or France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bernerd can be found in the Frankish Chronicles, a historical record of the Frankish kings, which mentions a nobleman named Bernerd who served under King Clovis I in the late 5th century. Another early reference is in the Vita Sancti Galli, a 7th-century hagiography that mentions a monk named Bernerd who lived in the Swiss Alps.
In the 9th century, a Frankish count named Bernerd of Barcelona is recorded as having played a significant role in the defense of the city against Viking raids. Around the same time, an Anglo-Saxon abbot named Bernerd is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as having been involved in the construction of churches and monasteries in England.
During the High Middle Ages, the name Bernerd gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Germany and France. One notable figure was Bernerd of Clairvaux, a 12th-century French abbot and leading figure in the Cistercian monastic order. Another was Bernerd the Crusader, a German knight who participated in the Third Crusade alongside Richard the Lionheart in the late 12th century.
In the 13th century, a French poet and composer named Bernerd de Ventadorn gained renown for his works in the Occitan language. A century later, an Italian friar named Bernerd of Siena was known for his preaching and efforts to reform the Franciscan order.
As the name spread across Europe, variations in spelling and pronunciation emerged, such as Bernhard, Bernard, and Bernardo. These alternative forms gained popularity in different regions and cultures, but all shared the same essential meaning and ancestry as the original Bernerd.
People
Bernerd + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernerd 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
Bernerd: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernerd?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 160 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernerd 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 2,142,215 US residents.
Is Bernerd a common name?
We classify Bernerd as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernerd most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernerd was 1920, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernerd is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bernerd in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 184 people with the name Bernerd, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,443 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 Bernerd 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 Bernerd?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bernerd appears almost entirely male. Of the 183 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Bernerd?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernerd is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Bernerd most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bernerd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (153 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 Bernerd in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernerd a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernerd 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 Bernerd still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernerd 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 Bernerd 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 have the name Bernerd?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.