Bernard

Bernard ("Bernhard") is a French and West Germanic masculine given name.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic "Bernhard" is composed from the two elements "bern" "bear" and "hard" "brave, hardy". Its native Old English reflex was "Beornheard", which was replaced by the French form "Bernard" that was brought to England after the Norman conquest.
The name "Bernhard" was notably popular among Old Frisian speakers.
Its wider use was popularized due to Saint Bernhard of Clairvaux (canonized 1174). Bernard is the second most common surname in France.
Geographical distribution.
As of 2014, 42.2% of all known bearers of the surname "Bernard" were residents of France (frequency 1:392), 12.5% of the United States (1:7,203), 7.0% of Haiti (1:382), 6.6% of Tanzania (1:1,961), 4.8% of Canada (1:1,896), 3.6% of Nigeria (1:12,221), 2.7% of Burundi (1:894), 1.9% of Belgium (1:1,500), 1.6% of Rwanda (1:1,745), 1.2% of Germany (1:16,397), 1.2% of Jamaica (1:595), 1.1% of Ghana (1:6,179), 1.0% of England (1:13,691) and 1.0% of Madagascar (1:6,098).
In France, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:392) in the following regions:
List of people with the name.
The following people and items share the name Bernard.