Bernadette
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Meaning
brave as a bear
Goes by Bernie. See all nicknames
Bernadette's name day is April 16, the feast of Saint Bernadette Soubirous in the Roman calendar of saints.
The story
Bernadette is the French diminutive of Bernard, brave as a bear, but nobody hears the bear anymore: they hear Lourdes. In 1858 a miller's daughter named Bernadette Soubirous reported eighteen visions at a grotto there, and the town became one of the most visited shrines on earth. She was canonized in 1933, and in 1943 Hollywood told her story in The Song of Bernadette, which won Jennifer Jones an Academy Award for playing her. The American curve moves right on cue: a quiet name swells through the 1940s, holds its crest into the 1960s, then settles back to the gentle background hum it keeps today. We cannot prove the film did it, but the timing is hard to argue with. Bernadette remains what it was in that era: a soft French name, four syllables long, with a stubborn, unshakeable girl inside.
Bernadette in song
Bernadette
The Four Tops (1967)
Holland, Dozier and Holland wrote it and Levi Stubbs sings it like a man holding on for his life, which is what makes it the most desperate record Motown ever released.
How popular is Bernadette around the world?
In the United States, 1,157 babies were named Bernadette between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 4 girls named Bernadette were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.
Bernadette is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, England and Wales, Mexico City, Canada, Spain, France, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 19,000
In the United States, 1,157 babies were named Bernadette between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Bernadette peaked in the 1940s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 girls named Bernadette were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
England and Wales
1 in 34,000
In England and Wales, 17 girls named Bernadette were born in 2025, ranked 1,719th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Mexico City City
1 in 59,000
In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Bernadette in 2022.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Canada
1 in 73,000
In Canada, 5 girls named Bernadette were born in 2024, ranked 3,457th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Spain
1 in 130,000
In Spain, 356 residents are named Bernadette, ranked 2,903rd among women, with a mean age of 55.6 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Bernadette were born in 2025, ranked 5,183rd among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Argentina
1 in 220,000
In Argentina, 3 newborns were given the name Bernadette in 2024.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
1 in 500,000
At the 2022 census, 384 people in Brazil were named Bernadette, ranked 16,051st, with a median age of 63.
Among people named Bernadette living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1950s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Austria
last on record 2024
Bernadette is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Montevideo City
last on record 2009
Bernadette is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Bernadette is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2000
Bernadette is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Poland
last on record 2016
Bernadette is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Scotland
last on record 2014
Bernadette is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
last on record 2016
Bernadette is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Bernadette
Most people given the name Bernadette in the United States were born between 1950 and 1989. The Bernadette you meet today is most often in her 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Bernadette · Saint names for babies and confirmation
The Bernadette deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Bernadette truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Bernadette fits with your family’s names and surname.
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