The masculine given name Bernard is of Germanic origin.
The meaning of the name is from a Germanic compound Bern-hard meaning "bear-hardy", or "brave as a bear". Bern- is the old form of bear from West Germanic *beran-.
St. Bernard of Menthon is the patron saint of mountaineers after whom the St. Bernard dog used in mountain rescue work is named. The feminine given name from the same cognate is Bernadine or Bernadette. Nicknames include Barney (masculine), Bernie (unisex), and Bern (masculine). Bernard is also a common surname.
Famous quotes containing the word bernard:
“I lay my eternal curse on whomsoever shall now or at any time hereafter make schoolbooks of my works and make me hated as Shakespeare is hated. My plays were not designed as instruments of torture. All the schools that lust after them get this answer, and will never get any other.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“There is nothing more dangerous than the conscience of a bigot.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“During the Suffragette revolt of 1913 I ... [urged] that what was needed was not the vote, but a constitutional amendment enacting that all representative bodies shall consist of women and men in equal numbers, whether elected or nominated or coopted or registered or picked up in the street like a coroner’s jury. In the case of elected bodies the only way of effecting this is by the Coupled Vote. The representative unit must not be a man or a woman but a man and a woman.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)