How Many People Are Named Bernadette?
An estimated 34,636 people in the United States have the first name Bernadette. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 57 years old, and Bernadette peaked in popularity in 1958 with 1,494 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Bernadette as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Bernadette paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Bernadette is overwhelmingly female, 60 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
34,636
About 1 in 9,896 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
57
years old
Peak Year
1958
1,494 births
Total Registered
54,788
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Bernadette
Bernadette is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 54,788 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Bernadette as a male name
Ranked #6,340 in 1983
5 male births in 1983
Peak: 1967 (8 births)
Bernadette as a female name
Ranked #1,247 in 2024
186 female births in 2024
Peak: 1958 (1,494 births)
Bernadette: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Bernadette span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 10,753 babies were registered. Bernadette has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Bernadette by Decade
How has Bernadette tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 93 | 0 | 93 | |
| 1890s | 348 | 0 | 348 | |
| 1900s | 598 | 0 | 598 | |
| 1910s | 2,078 | 0 | 2,078 | |
| 1920s | 3,533 | 0 | 3,533 | |
| 1930s | 3,772 | 0 | 3,772 | |
| 1940s | 8,631 | 0 | 8,631 | |
| 1950s | 10,701 | 0 | 10,701 | |
| 1960s | 10,753 | 35 | 10,718 | |
| 1970s | 5,907 | 20 | 5,887 | |
| 1980s | 3,276 | 5 | 3,271 | |
| 1990s | 1,979 | 0 | 1,979 | |
| 2000s | 946 | 0 | 946 | |
| 2010s | 1,259 | 0 | 1,259 | |
| 2020s | 914 | 0 | 914 | |
Bernadette by State
Birth registrations for Bernadette span all 50 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Pennsylvania, California. The lowest are in Wyoming, Utah, Alaska. On average, about 978 Bernadettes were registered per state.
Bernadette + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Bernadette as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Bernadette
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Bernadette: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bernadette?
We estimate approximately 34,636 people named Bernadette are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 9,896 Americans share this first name.
Is Bernadette a common name?
Bernadette is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 54,788 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Bernadette most popular?
Bernadette reached peak popularity in 1958, when 1,494 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Bernadette is approximately 57 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Bernadette a female name?
Bernadette is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Bernadette Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Bernadette Smith, Bernadette Johnson, Bernadette Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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