UK girl's name
Bernadette
A feminine name of Old German origin meaning "brave as a bear".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Bernadette is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Bernadette popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1603, with 19 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 39 births.
This profile covers 480 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 49% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 887 living people in the UK are called Bernadette. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Bernadette ranked #1603 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 19 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1996, when 39 girls were registered as Bernadette.
- • Bernadette ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #407 in 2024.
- • About 887 living people in the UK are estimated to have Bernadette as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1603
2024
Births in 2024
19
Latest year
Peak year
1996
39 births
Estimated living
887
2026
Meaning
What does Bernadette mean?
The given name Bernadette has its origins in the Frankish or Germanic languages of medieval Europe. It is derived from the Germanic words "bern" meaning bear, and "hard" meaning brave or hardy. Thus, the name literally translates to "brave as a bear".
In its earliest form, the name was spelled "Bernardette" or "Bernhardine" in various regions of what is now France and Germany. It gained popularity as a feminine form of the masculine name Bernard, which followed a similar etymology.
The name is associated with St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879), a young French Catholic who reported visions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France. Her visions led to the establishment of the Marian shrine at Lourdes, one of the most renowned pilgrimage sites in the world. Bernadette was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1933.
Other notable figures with the name Bernadette include Bernadette Devlin (born 1947), an Irish political activist and politician who played a prominent role in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement. Bernadette Peters (born 1948) is an American actress and singer, renowned for her work on Broadway and in films.
Bernadette Soubirous Bigombe (born 1956) is a Ugandan peace activist and former government minister, who played a key role in negotiations with the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group. Bernadette Chirac (born 1933) is the wife of former French President Jacques Chirac, and was actively involved in charitable work during her husband's presidency.
Bernadette Fox Murphy (1952-2010) was an American Roman Catholic religious sister and anti-death penalty activist, known for her work in advocating for the abolition of capital punishment in the United States.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Bernadette over time
The chart below shows babies named Bernadette registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Bernadette, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 19 births in 2024, compared with 39 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bernadette by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Bernadette was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #1917 | 75 | 5 |
| 2010s | #2254 | 122 | 10 |
| 2000s | #1637 | 151 | 10 |
| 1990s | #716 | 132 | 4 |
Geography
Where Bernadette is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Bernadette. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Bernadette ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #407 in 2024.
Across the UK
Bernadette in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#802 in 2014
29 years of NRS records, 394 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#407 in 2024
7 years of NISRA records, 23 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bernadette
-
Bernadette Walker
student
murder victim
2002-2020
-
Bernadette Murphy
historian
English writer
2000-
-
Bernadette Beck
actor; television actor
English actress
1994-
-
Bernadette Collins
race engineer
British strategy engineer from Northern Ireland
1985-
-
Bernadette MacCormack
visual artist
1969-
-
Bernadette Kelly
civil servant
British civil servant
1964-
-
Bernadette Linn
minister
Hong Kong government official
1964-
-
Bernadette Feely
visual artist
1964-
Related
Names similar to Bernadette
- Bethany 43,226
- Brooke 18,370
- Bella 14,112
- Bonnie 12,149
- Beatrice 11,306
- Bethan 7,968
- Beth 6,440
- Betsy 5,065
- Beatrix 4,317
- Billie 4,220
- Beau 3,231
- Bryony 3,167
FAQ
Bernadette: questions and answers
How popular is the name Bernadette in the UK right now?
In 2024, Bernadette was ranked #1603 for girls in England and Wales, with 19 births registered.
When was Bernadette most popular?
The peak year on record was 1996, with 39 babies registered as Bernadette in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Bernadette?
A feminine name of Old German origin meaning "brave as a bear".
How many people are called Bernadette in the UK?
A total of 480 babies have been registered as Bernadette across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 394 more in Scotland and 23 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Bernadette most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Bernadette ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #407 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.