Boys' name · peaked in 1921
Bernard name popularity since 1925
146,040 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Bernard. Half of them were born in 1948 or earlier, so the typical Bernard is about 78 years old in 2026. Bernard peaked in 1921 as the #45 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 146,040
- Named Bernard, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1921
- #45 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,362 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.5% boys
- 746 girls · 145,294 boys
- Most popular in
- Vermont
- 3.84× its national share
Peak year is the year Bernard made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Bernard births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Bernard peaked earlier, in 1921.
- Steepest fall: Between 1993 and 1998, Bernard's share of baby boys fell by 40%, from 1 in 3,880 to 1 in 6,440.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Bernard's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Bernard.
Decade by decade
Babies named Bernard in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 146 | 20,470 | – |
| 1930s | 140 | 30,545 | #67 |
| 1940s | 85 | 26,446 | #98 |
| 1950s | 105 | 25,887 | #127 |
| 1960s | 123 | 17,475 | #170 |
| 1970s | 83 | 9,100 | #242 |
| 1980s | 56 | 6,507 | #312 |
| 1990s | 8 | 4,159 | #496 |
| 2000s | 0 | 2,252 | #832 |
| 2010s | 0 | 1,608 | #1,216 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 845 | #1,362 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
37.1% of babies named Bernard from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Bernard is most popular
The index compares Bernard's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Bernard.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 3.84× | 922 |
| District of Columbia | 3.22× | 2,137 |
| Pennsylvania | 2.11× | 15,413 |
| Maryland | 2.10× | 4,603 |
| West Virginia | 1.97× | 2,492 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Bernard and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Bernard (this page) | 145,294 | 1921 |
| Bernhard | 1,085 | 1887 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Bernard's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Bernard.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Bernard (1921).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data