Bernhardt
Derived from Germanic elements meaning "bear" and "hardy, brave".
Name Census estimates that about 66 living Americans carry the first name Bernhardt. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bernhardt today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernhardt births was 1915 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernhardt. 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 Bernhardt is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bernhardts were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bernhardt. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
66
~ 1 in 5,193,248 Americans
Peak year
1915
19 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1964 SSA rank
#4,100
Tracked since 1908
Census
Bernhardt in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 185 people with the first name Bernhardt, which placed it at #40,305 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
#40,305
National first-name rank
People counted
185
185 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bernhardt
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernhardt is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Bernhardt 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 Bernhardt at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.3% · 156
- Two or more races5.9% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 6
- Black or African American2.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Bernhardt: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernhardt from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 139 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
Bernhardt 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 Bernhardt during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bernhardts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Minnesota, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Bernhardt, while New York, Illinois, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernhardt
The name Bernhardt has its origins in the Germanic languages, with roots dating back to the 8th century. It is a compound name, formed by combining the words "bern" meaning "bear" and "hart" meaning "hardy" or "brave." This combination suggests a strong, courageous individual with bear-like qualities.
The earliest known record of the name comes from the Carolingian dynasty, which ruled over a vast empire in Europe from the 8th to the 10th centuries. During this time, the name was used by several prominent figures, including Bernhardt, the Count of Barcelona, who lived in the 9th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name gained popularity among the aristocracy and nobility across various regions of Europe. One notable bearer was Bernhardt of Clairvaux, a French abbot and theologian who lived from 1090 to 1153. He was a highly influential figure in the Catholic Church and is revered as a saint.
As the name spread throughout Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including Bernhard, Bernhardt, and Bernardo. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Bernhardt of Saxe-Weimar, a German prince and military leader who played a significant role in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).
In the 19th century, the name gained further prominence with the birth of Sarah Bernhardt, a French actress widely regarded as one of the greatest performers of all time. Born in 1844, she captivated audiences with her dramatic talent and became an international icon of the stage.
Another notable bearer of the name was Bernhardt Dessau, a German-American engineer and inventor who lived from 1861 to 1923. He made significant contributions to the development of the early automotive industry and held numerous patents related to vehicle design and manufacturing.
In the 20th century, the name continued to be used across various cultures and regions. One example is Bernhardt J. Blume, an American aeronautical engineer born in 1914, who played a crucial role in the development of the Boeing 747 and other iconic aircraft designs.
While the name Bernhardt has its roots in Germanic languages, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained recognition around the world, carried by individuals who have left their mark in various fields throughout history.
People
Bernhardt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernhardt 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
Bernhardt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernhardt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 66 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernhardt 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 5,193,248 US residents.
Is Bernhardt a common name?
We classify Bernhardt as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 423 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernhardt most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernhardt was 1915, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernhardt is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bernhardt in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 185 people with the name Bernhardt, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,305 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 Bernhardt 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 Bernhardt?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bernhardt appears almost entirely male. Of the 185 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Bernhardt?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bernhardt is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Bernhardt most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bernhardt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.3% (156 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 Bernhardt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bernhardt a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bernhardt 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 Bernhardt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bernhardt 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 Bernhardt 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 are called Bernhardt?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.