Bernadette
From Latin, it carries the sense of being strong as a bear. In Poland it stays rare: just 119 women hold it today, and newborn girls almost never receive it.
Bernadette Pronunciation
Bernadette is pronounced ber-nah-DET-te (/bɛrnaˈdɛttɛ/).
What Bernadette means
Where Bernadette comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Bernadette is the French feminine of Bernard, formed with the small ending -ette. Behind it sit two old elements meaning bear and brave. Together they give the sense brave or strong as a bear. The name reached French through the Latin of the church.
Its best-known bearer is Bernadette Soubirous, a miller's daughter from Lourdes who reported visions in 1858. Rome canonized her in 1933. She is now Saint Bernadette, and her fame moved the name past France into wider Catholic Europe.
In Poland the name also appears as Bernadeta. A girl might find that spelling on her school register. Bernard stands close by. He is the masculine form, and he holds the same bear at the root of brave or strong as a bear.
How many people are named Bernadette
1 in 189444 women in Poland is named Bernadette. 119 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #3084 among female names.
Bernadette's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Bernadette as a middle name
Bernadette is a first name for 119 women in Poland and a middle name for another 107, a 53/47 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 644th, between Leigh (108) and Dora (107).
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#642 Evelyn108
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#643 Leigh108
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#644 Bernadette107
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#645 Dora107
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#646 Damiana106