Geneanet > Resources > Family Names > BERNARD

Origin and popularity of the name BERNARD

Origin

Bernard : English Scottish French Walloon Breton Dutch German Polish Czech Slovenian West Indian (mainly Haiti) and African (mainly Tanzania): from the personal name Bernard from an ancient Germanic name composed of the elements ber(n) ‘bear’ + hard ‘brave hardy strong’ (see Bernhard). It was borne by several Christian saints including Saint Bernard of Menthon (923–1008) founder of Alpine hospices and patron saint of mountaineers whose cult accounts for the frequency of the name in Alpine regions. The popularity of the personal name was also greatly increased by virtue of its having been borne by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090–1153) founder and abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux. In North America the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages e.g. Italian Bernardo. Bernard is the second most frequent surname in France. Compare Barnard Benore and Burnor.

More

Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England

Subject to the Terms and Conditions of Ancestry

Surname frequency

Geographic distribution of the 3,306,124 individuals with the name BERNARD on Geneanet.

 

Most found places for the name BERNARD:

    This last name in the family trees

    See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name BERNARD

    richbam1
    (7,136 individuals)
    belletatin
    (6,098 individuals)
    agnesy
    (5,695 individuals)
    famillescharentaises
    (5,649 individuals)

    Search another name

    Search 8 billion individuals

    Search 8 billion individuals

    Search the last name of your ancestors in 8 billion indexed individuals.

    Search BERNARD

    Start your family tree

    Start your family tree

    Create your family tree and take advantage of valuable tips to help you search your ancestors.

    Start your family tree