Bernice
- Pronunciation
- [Ber-nice]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- One Who Brings Victory. Variant Of Berenice.
- Origin
- French
About the Name Bernice
Bernice is a Latinised form of the ancient Greek name Berenike, composed of the elements phero (to bring) and nike (victory) — meaning one who brings victory. The name was popular among the Ptolemaic queens of Egypt and later appears in the New Testament, carried by Berenice, the daughter of Herod Agrippa. Its adoption into French and then English retained much of its classical gravity while giving it an approachable sound that suited the rising middle-class naming fashions of the late Victorian and Edwardian era.
No famous bearers are documented for this name. Its story is therefore best understood through population trends. Bernice belonged to the generation of Greek-rooted victory names — alongside Veronica and Nike-derived forms — that enjoyed renewed interest in the early twentieth century as parents sought names with classical distinction and moral weight. The name's strong consonants and clear three-syllable rhythm gave it an authoritative presence on the page and in the home.
In the US Social Security top-1000, Bernice appears in the top-1000 from 1898 and reached its peak of #39 in 1921 — the height of the interwar naming wave that favoured formal, classically anchored feminine names. It exited the chart in 1936 with 2,540 births at #95, having generated nearly 130,000 top-1000 births. Recorded variants include Barrie, Barry, Benni, Bernie, Berry, Bunni, Bunny, Veronica, and Veronika.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Bernice
US Popularity History (1898–1936)
Annual US births named Bernice by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1921 with 6,190 girls named Bernice (girl rank #39 that year).
Where it stands today: in 1936, ranked #95 for girls (2,540 US births). That's 56 places below its 1921 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Variant Forms
Looking for names like Bernice?
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Compare Bernice to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Bernice against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).