Bernard

See also: bernard

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): Barnard

Etymology

From Middle English Bernard, from Old French Bernard, Bernart, from Medieval Latin Bernardus, probably from Frankish *Bernhard (compare Old High German Bernhart, Old English Beornheard), from Proto-Germanic *Bernuharduz, equivalent to bear +‎ -ard. Popularized by medieval European saints.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɜːnəd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /bəɹˈnɑɹd/
• Rhymes: (UK) -ɜːnəd, (US) -ɑː(ɹ)d

Proper noun

Bernard

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • 1992, Thomas Keneally, Woman of the Inner Sea, Plume, published 1994, →ISBN, pages 18–19:

     A similar arrangement was made for her son Bernard, named in honor of the great Carthusian mystic (at least, that is what Jim Gaffney would softly tell Mrs. Kozinski) and of Bernie Astor, the publicist.

2. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Related terms

• Bernadette
• Bernie

Translations

male given name

• Albanian: Benárd m Bernárd m, Bernhárd m, Binárd m, Birnárd m
• Basque: Beñat (eu)
• Bengali: বার্নার্ড (barnarḍo)
• Catalan: Bernat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 班拿特 (baan¹ naa⁴ dak⁶)

  Mandarin: 伯納德 / 伯纳德 (Bónàdé)

• Danish: Bernhard, Bernt
• Dutch: Bernaart
• Esperanto: Bernardo
• French: Bernard (fr)

  Middle French: Bernard

  Old French: Bernart

• Georgian: ბერნარდი (bernardi)
• German: Bernhard (de), Bernd (de)
• Greek: Βερνάρδος (el) m (Vernárdos)
• Hungarian: Bernát (hu)
• Icelandic: Bernharður (is)
• Irish: Bearnárd
• Italian: Bernardo (it)
• Latin: Bernardus
• Lombard: Bernard m
• Maori: Perenata
• Norwegian: Bernhard (no), Bernt (no)
• Occitan: Bernat m
• Polish: Bernard (pl)
• Portuguese: Bernardo (pt)
• Russian: Берна́рд (ru) m (Bernárd)
• Spanish: Bernardo (es)
• Swedish: Bernhard (sv)
• Vietnamese: Bênađô
• Walloon: Biernåd (wa)

Anagrams

• barn red, Brander, brander, Bradner, re-brand, rebrand

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Bernard, from Germanic.

Proper noun

Bernard

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Germanic languages]

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Bernard.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛrnart]

Proper noun

Bernard m anim

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Bernard

Declension

Declension of Bernard (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Bernard	Bernardové
genitive	Bernarda	Bernardů
dative	Bernardovi, Bernardu	Bernardům
accusative	Bernarda	Bernardy
vocative	Bernarde	Bernardové
locative	Bernardovi, Bernardu	Bernardech
instrumental	Bernardem	Bernardy

French

See also: bernard-l'ermite

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛʁ.naʁ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Proper noun

Bernard m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Bernard
2. a surname originating as a patronymic

German

Alternative forms

• Bernhard
• Bernhardt
• Bernhart

Etymology

From Old High German Bernhart, from Old High German bero (“bear”, cf. Bär), + Old High German hart (“hard, strong”, cf. hart). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Bernuharduz.

Proper noun

Bernard m (proper noun, strong, genitive Bernards)

1. a male given name from Old High German

Proper noun

Bernard m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Bernards or (with an article) Bernard, feminine genitive Bernard, plural Bernards)

1. a surname transferred from the given name

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛr.nart/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrnart
• Syllabification: Ber‧nard

Proper noun

Bernard m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Bernard

Declension

Declension of Bernard

	singular	plural
nominative	Bernard	Bernardzi/Bernardy (deprecative)
genitive	Bernarda	Bernardów
dative	Bernardowi	Bernardom
accusative	Bernarda	Bernardów
instrumental	Bernardem	Bernardami
locative	Bernardzie	Bernardach
vocative	Bernardzie	Bernardzi

Further reading

• Bernard in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /běrnard/

Proper noun

Bèrnard m (Cyrillic spelling Бѐрнард)

1. a male given name

Declension

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “Bernard”, in Portal suvremenih hrvatskih osobnih imena [Portal of contemporary Croatian personal names] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2018–2025

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛrnard/

Proper noun

Bernard m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Bernard

Declension

Declension of Bernard (pattern chlap)

	singular	plural
nominative	Bernard	Bernardovia
genitive	Bernarda	Bernardov
dative	Bernardovi	Bernardom
accusative	Bernarda	Bernardov
locative	Bernardovi	Bernardoch
instrumental	Bernardom	Bernardmi

Further reading

• “Bernard”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025