Meaning & History

Derived from the Germanic "bear" combined with"brave, hardy". The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English . This was the name of several saints , including Saint Bernard of Menthon who built hospices in the Swiss Alps in the 10th century, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include the Irish playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and the British World War II field marshal Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976).