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Bernhard History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Bernhard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Germany
Portugal

The Portuguese surname Bernhard is of patronymic origin, derived from the first name of the father and literally meant "(son) of Bernard". The forename Bernhard is an old German name composed of the elements "ber(n)" which means "bear" and "hard" which means "brave, strong, courageous."

Its popularity as a Christian name is largely due to the two saints of this name, St. Bernard of Menthon (d.1081), popularly known as the patron saint of mountaineers, who founded the Alpine hospices and whose name has been given to the dogs used to look for lost travelers, and the French St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153), churchman and mystic who became the most powerful influence in France, and later, in all Western Europe.

Early Origins of the Bernhard family

The surname Bernhard was first found in Portugal where "a family so-called of nobles existed already in time of Kings D. Afonso V and D. Joao II, living in Ponte from Lima. Many were Minho nobility and a branch of Bernardes de Obidos, and Heitor Bernardes Botado, people of great value and great spirits, including Manso de Lima, who was a warrior genius; he went to serve the Emperor Charles V. He returned to Portugal and, getting married, gave rise to Bernardes Botados." 1

Early History of the Bernhard family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bernhard research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1008, 1010, 1091, 1153, 1346, 1438, 1481, 1530, 1578, 1596, 1644 and 1743 are included under the topic Early Bernhard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bernhard Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Bernardo, Bernardes, Bernardi, Bernardino, Bernhard, Bernhardt, Bernhart, Barnhard, Barnhardt and many more.

Early Notables of the Bernhard family

Prominent members of the family include Guillermo Bernardo held the title of Duke of Gascua and was a son of Guillermo Sancho, who died in 1010. Oliver Bernardo held the office of Bishop of Barcelona in the mid 4th century, and was sent to the diocese of Tortosa by order of Pope Clement VI in 1346. Jesús Maria Bernardo was a member of the Carmelite order and prior of the...
Another 69 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bernhard Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bernhard Ranking

In the United States, the name Bernhard is the 11,744^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in France, the name Bernhard is ranked the 2,219^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,878 people with that name. 3

Bernhard migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bernhard Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Imp Bernhard, who arrived in New York in 1709 4
Just Bernhard, who landed in New York in 1709 4
Johann Bernhard, who arrived in New York in 1709 4
Johannes Bernhard, who landed in New York, NY in 1709 4
Ulrich Bernhard, who arrived in New York in 1709 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bernhard Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Catharina Bernhard, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1803 4
Adam Bernhard, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1803 4
George Bernhard, who arrived in New York in 1836 4
Wilhelmine Bernhard, who landed in America in 1839 4
Miss Bernhard, aged 33, who arrived in America in 1843 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bernhard migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bernhard Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Ernestine Bernhard, aged 19, who landed in Quebec in 1868

Contemporary Notables of the name Bernhard (post 1700) +

William F. Bernhard (1924-2018), American cardiovascular surgeon, Emeritus Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and cardiovascular surgical pioneer
Sandra Bernhard (b. 1955), American singer and comedian
Ruth Bernhard (1905-2006), American photographer
Timo Bernhard (b. 1981), German sports car racer
Thomas Bernhard (1931-1988), Austrian novelist, playwright and poet
Henriette-Rosine Bernhard (1845-1923), French actress, who used the stage name Sarah Bernhardt
Karl Bernhard Hesse MSC MBE (1936-2023), German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, Auxiliary Bishop of Rabaul from 1978 to 1980, Bishop of Kavieng from 1980 to 1990, and Archbishop of Rabaul from 1990 to 2011
Dieter Bernhard Herrmann (1939-2021), German astronomer and author of numerous popular science literature books on astronomy, Director of the Zeiss Major Planetarium in Berlin from 1987 to 2004
Juergen Bernhard Donges (1940-2021), German economist and professor emeritus of political economics at the University of Cologne
Karl Bernhard Dall (1941-2020), German comedian, singer, and television presenter

Historic Events for the Bernhard family +

Hindenburg LZ-129

Mr. Alfred Bernhard (1905-1937), German Helmsman from Charlottenburg, Germany, who worked on board the Hindenburg LZ-129 and survived the Airship Fire, but later died in hospital from injuries 5

Citations +

De Faria, Antonio Machado. Armorial lusitano: genealogia e heráldica. Lisboa, 1961. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Hindenburg Disaster Passenger List | Airships.net. (Retrieved 2014, April 11) . Retrieved from http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster/hindenburg-passenger-list/