Bernie
A diminutive of Bernard, a masculine name of German origin meaning "bear-hardy".
Name Census estimates that about 5,586 living Americans carry the first name Bernie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Bernie today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bernie births was 1960 (266 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bernie. 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.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,360 Americans
Peak year
1960
266 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,453
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Bernie
Bernie leans heavily male at 85.7% of total registrations, but 1,535 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bernie as a male name
- Ranked #5,453 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (231 births)
Bernie as a female name
- Ranked #6,548 in 1975
- 8 female births in 1975
- Peak: 1957 (51 births)
Popularity
Bernie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bernie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,810 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bernie 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 Bernie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bernies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Bernie, while North Dakota, Connecticut, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 127 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bernie
The name Bernie originates from the ancient Germanic language, where it was derived from the word "bern," meaning "bear." This name was particularly popular during the Middle Ages in various regions of Europe, including Germany, France, and England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Bernie can be traced back to the 8th century, when it appeared in the Frankish annals as the name of a nobleman. In the 9th century, a Benedictine monk named Bernie of Menthon founded the hospices on the Great St. Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps, providing shelter and aid to travelers.
During the High Middle Ages, the name Bernie gained popularity among the nobility and was borne by several prominent figures. One notable example is Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a French abbot and one of the most influential figures in the Cistercian order. His writings and sermons had a profound impact on the religious and intellectual life of his time.
Another famous bearer of the name was Bernard de Ventadour (c. 1135-1195), a renowned troubadour and poet from the region of Limousin in France. His lyrical compositions were widely celebrated and contributed significantly to the development of courtly love poetry.
In the 16th century, the name Bernie was associated with Bernard Palissy (c. 1510-1590), a French potter and naturalist known for his innovative glazing techniques and contributions to the field of natural history.
During the 19th century, the name Bernie gained popularity in the United States, particularly among Irish and German immigrants. One notable figure was Bernard Baruch (1870-1965), an American financier and adviser to several presidents, who played a crucial role in the economic policies of the early 20th century.
Other notable individuals with the name Bernie include Bernie Ecclestone (born 1930), the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, and Bernie Madoff (1938-2021), the infamous American financier who orchestrated one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bernie
People
Bernie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernie 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
Bernie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,586 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bernie 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 61,360 US residents.
Is Bernie a common name?
We classify Bernie as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,752 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bernie most popular?
The single biggest year for Bernie was 1960, when 266 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bernie is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bernie a male name?
Yes, 85.7% of people registered as Bernie 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.
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.