Bernadette vs Berniece
American parents have registered 55,033 Bernadettes since 1880, against 9,909 Bernieces. Bernadette is still ahead, with 241 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Bernadette Berniece
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 145 years in which either name was published, Bernadette for 126 years and Berniece for 19 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.
- 1880–1902 Bernadette ahead
- 1903–1907 Berniece ahead
- 1908–1909 Bernadette ahead
- 1910–1923 Berniece ahead
- 1924–2025 Bernadette ahead
Side by side
| Bernadette | Berniece | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 55,033 | 9,909 |
| Most in one year | 1,494 | 476 |
| Babies in 2025 | 241 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 38,000 | 1,200 |
| Median age today | 61 | 80 |
| Peak year | 1958 | 1918 |
| Best rank | 213th girls | 291st girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 1,034th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1886 |
| Girls / boys | 54,973 / 60 | 9,909 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Bernieces alive today are over 80; half the Bernadettes are over 61. That is 19 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Bernadette New Mexico (4.9×), Hawaii (4.9×), Pennsylvania (2.6×)
- Berniece South Dakota (6.3×), Nebraska (5.8×), Iowa (5.7×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Bernadette and Berniece.