girl's name
Bernadette
ber-nuh-DET
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 10
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 203,470
Northern Ireland
#497
2024 births
Bernadette is a girl's name meaning brave as a bear, and its bearer was a fourteen-year-old miller's daughter whose visions at Lourdes in 1858 turned a Pyrenean grotto into one of the most visited places on earth.
- Bernadette is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1949, when 5,090 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 117,911 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 3.
Bernadette over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 3,310 |
| 1910s | 5,330 |
| 1920s | 10,930 |
| 1930s | 26,830 |
| 1940s | 35,655 |
| 1950s | 41,035 |
| 1960s | 14,875 |
| 1970s | 2,425 |
| 1980s | 645 |
| 1990s | 230 |
| 2000s | 90 |
| 2010s | 70 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 30 |
What Bernadette means
Bernadette means brave as a bear, carried from Bernard. The Germanic joins the word for a bear to one meaning hard or brave, and the French -ette ending adds smallness.
Where Bernadette comes from
Bernadette is the French feminine diminutive of Bernard, from the Germanic Bernhard — bern, a bear, joined to hard, brave. Bear names were common in early Germanic naming, on the principle that a child named for a dangerous animal might take on its qualities. Bernadette Soubirous was fourteen when she reported eighteen apparitions at a grotto in Lourdes in 1858; she was closely interrogated, entered a convent, died at thirty-five, and Lourdes now receives millions of visitors a year. The name's spread through France follows her canonisation in 1933 rather than her lifetime.
Bernadette in use
Bernadette peaked in France in 1949, when 5,090 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 497th in Northern Ireland, 857th in Ireland, 1037th in the United States on 241 births, 1797th in England and Wales on 17 and 7154th in France, across 203,470 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track. The two Irish markets place it well above France, which reflects Catholic devotion rather than the name's French form.
How popular is Bernadette?
In 2025, Bernadette was given to 5 babies in France. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Bernadette is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Bernadette
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Bernadette also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Bernadette over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Bernadette
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Bernadette in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- French
- Bernard
- German
- Bernard
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Bernadine Bernadetta Bernadett
Sibling names for Bernadette
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Bernadette — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Bernadette
What does the name Bernadette mean?
Brave as a bear, carried from Bernard with a French diminutive ending.
Who was Bernadette of Lourdes?
A fourteen-year-old miller's daughter who reported eighteen apparitions at a grotto in 1858. She died at thirty-five.
Why is Bernadette strong in Ireland?
Catholic devotion to Lourdes rather than any French connection — the two Irish markets place it well above France.
How popular is Bernadette?
1037th in the United States and 497th in Northern Ireland.
Is Bernadette a girl's or a boy's name?
Bernadette is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Bernadette?
Bernadette has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Bernadette?
Bernadette is usually shortened to Bernie and Detta.
Is Bernadette a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Bernadette currently ranks #497 in France. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.