Bernese
Of Swiss origin, referring to the Bernese Oberland region.
Name Census estimates that about 3 living Americans carry the first name Bernese. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bernese today is around 92 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernese births was 1916 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernese. 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 Bernese is about 92 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Berneses were born before 1944.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bernese. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
3
~ 1 in 114,251,446 Americans
Peak year
1916
14 babies that year
Average age
92
years old
1932 SSA rank
#3,950
Tracked since 1906
Popularity
Bernese: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernese from the 1900s through to the 1930s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 82 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
Bernese 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 Bernese 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 Bernese
The given name Bernese has its origins in the French language and is derived from the word "Bernois," which refers to the inhabitants of the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The name is associated with the Bernese region and the city of Bern, which dates back to the 12th century.
Bernese is believed to have emerged as a given name during the Middle Ages, when it was common for people to adopt names based on their place of origin or residence. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various historical documents and records from the 13th and 14th centuries in Switzerland and neighboring regions.
One of the earliest documented uses of the name Bernese can be found in the chronicles of the Swiss historian and diplomat Aegidius Tschudi (1505-1572), who wrote extensively about the history of Switzerland and its cantons. In his works, Tschudi mentions several individuals with the name Bernese, indicating that it was in use during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bernese. One of the most prominent was Bernese von Rapperswil (c. 1260-1314), a Swiss knight and military commander who fought in the Battle of Morgarten in 1315, a pivotal conflict during the Swiss struggle for independence from the Holy Roman Empire.
Another notable figure was Bernese von Sternenberg (c. 1370-1440), a Swiss nobleman and diplomat who played a crucial role in negotiating the Compact of Sempach, a treaty between the Swiss Confederacy and the Holy Roman Empire in 1393.
In the realm of arts and culture, Bernese de Châtillon (c. 1200-1270) was a French trouvère and composer who is credited with writing some of the earliest known secular songs in the French language.
The name Bernese also appeared in religious circles, such as Bernese of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a French abbot and one of the primary reformers of the Cistercian order.
Lastly, Bernese von Graffenried (1628-1705) was a Swiss nobleman and founder of the town of New Bern in North Carolina, one of the earliest settlements in the British colony of Carolina.
While the name Bernese is not as common today as it once was, it continues to hold historical significance and cultural connections to the Bernese region of Switzerland and its rich heritage.
People
Bernese + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernese 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
Bernese: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernese?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernese 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 114,251,446 US residents.
Is Bernese a common name?
We classify Bernese as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 138 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernese most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernese was 1916, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernese is about 92 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Bernese in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernese a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernese 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 Bernese still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernese 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 Bernese 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Bernese?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.