Bernard
Germanic at root, built to mean "brave as a bear". Around 17,000 Polish men carry it, always as a man's name, and it's slipping again: fewer parents reach for it now than a few years back.
Bernard Pronunciation
Bernard is pronounced BER-nahrt (/ˈbɛrnart/).
What Bernard means
Where Bernard comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Bernard grew from Germanic roots. The first part, bern, means bear; the second, hard, means brave or strong. Together they give the meaning that has stayed with the name: strong as a bear.
The best-known bearer is Bernard of Clairvaux, the twelfth-century monk who shaped the Cistercian order. His reputation carried the name across Latin Europe, and it settled into Polish records beside the form Bernardus. His feast falls on 20 August.
The name bends into other shapes. Bernhard keeps the older German spelling, and Bernarda turns it toward a daughter. Read a Polish class register and a Bernard might sit a few desks from a Bernarda. On 20 August the imieniny gives both of them a name-day. Whatever the spelling, the meaning holds: strong as a bear.
When Bernard celebrates name day
Bernard appears 19 times in the Polish name day calendar, 4 of them as a main name, the first on 12 January.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
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in 131 days19 JanuaryTuesday in 2027
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in 135 days23 JanuarySaturday in 2027
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in 152 days9 FebruaryTuesday in 2027
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in 159 days16 FebruaryTuesday in 2027
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in 264 days1 JuneTuesday in 2027
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in 275 days12 JuneSaturday in 2027
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in 278 days15 JuneTuesday in 2027
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in 334 days10 AugustTuesday in 2027
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in 345 days21 AugustSaturday in 2027
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in 346 days22 AugustSunday in 2027
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today10 SeptemberThursday in 2026
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in 34 days14 OctoberWednesday in 2026
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in 41 days21 OctoberWednesday in 2026
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in 46 days26 OctoberMonday in 2026
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in 85 days4 DecemberFriday in 2026
How many people are named Bernard
1 in 1243 men in Poland is named Bernard. 17,179 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #294 among male names.
Bernard's popularity over time
58 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #324 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2006. Still the #294 name among living men, even as it slips to #324 among newborns.
Where Bernard is most popular
Bernard is most popular in Masovian, 69% above the national average (120 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+56%) and Lower Silesian (+50%). It is least common in Świętokrzyskie and Lubusz, 82% and 80% below average respectively.
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Masovian120 boys born+69%
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Pomeranian46 boys born+56%
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Lower Silesian47 boys born+50%
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Greater Poland58 boys born+35%
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Lesser Poland54 boys born+19%
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Łódź22 boys born−13%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian17 boys born−22%
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West Pomeranian11 boys born−35%
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Silesian27 boys born−41%
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Warmian-Masurian6 boys born−58%
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Subcarpathian10 boys born−59%
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Podlaskie4 boys born−70%
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Lublin6 boys born−71%
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Lubusz2 boys born−80%
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Świętokrzyskie2 boys born−82%
Bernard as a middle name
Bernard is a first name for 17,179 men in Poland and a middle name for another 18,530, a 48/52 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 90th, between Ludwik (19,094) and Cezary (17,694).
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#88 Gabriel22,230
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#89 Ludwik19,094
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#90 Bernard18,530
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#91 Cezary17,694
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#92 Feliks15,986