Bernice
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Bernice
Rarely heard today-- it fell off the list around 1980--Bernice is a biblical name of Greek origin. In the Bible, she is a sister of King Agrippa.
Bernice was a Top 100 name in the US for more than three decades--from 1900 to 1936--hitting a high of Number 39 in 1921. Last year in the US, fewer than 50 baby girls were named Bernice.
The original spelling of the name was Berenice, the name of the wife of Ptolemy I of Egypt, and it's also the name of a fourth century saint. Berenice Abbott was an important twentieth century photographer, and Bernice was the birth name of Bea Arthur. One of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best remembered short stories is "Bernice Bobs her Hair."
Bernice has a plethora of nicknames--you can take your pick of Berry, Benny, Bernie, Binnie and Bunny.
Bernice is also given to boys.
Pronounced ber-NEES.
As of October 2026, Bernice ranked #4082 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #39 in 1921.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,689 | 65 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #3,004 | 57 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #3,108 | 53 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #2,516 | 71 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #2,685 | 64 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #3,007 | 54 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #3,553 | 42 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #3,116 | 52 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #3,655 | 42 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #4,059 | 36 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #3,821 | 39 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #4,082 | 35 | — | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Bernice.
Bernice on lists
Famous Bernices
- Bernice AckermanGirl
first woman weathercaster in the US
- Bernice Bing (1936Girl
1998), Chinese,American abstract expressionist artist who was also an activist in the San Francisco lesbian and gay community of her era
- Bernice Pauahi BishopGirl
Hawaiian princess
- Bernice BurgosGirl
video vixen
- Bernice ClaireGirl
American actress
- Bernice FisherGirl
American civil rights activist
- Bernice "Fitz" FitzGirl
Gibbon, American ad writer
- Bernice FrankelGirl
birth name of actress Bea Arthur
- Bernice Thurman HunterGirl
Canadian children's author
- Bernice Jan LiuGirl
Canadian,Hong Kong actress; Miss Chinese International 2001
- Bernice Albertine KingGirl
daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Bernice MorganGirl
Canadian novelist
- Bernice L. NeugartenGirl
American psychologist
- Bernice RubensGirl
Welsh novelist
- Bernice ZamoraGirl
American Chicana poet
- Agnes Bernice MartinGirl
abstract painter
Bernice in pop culture
- Bernice Surprise "Benny" SummerfieldGirl
Doctor Who book character
- Bernice KimmelmanGirl
character in movie "Domestic Import"
- Bernice HalperGirl
Luann's BFF in comic strip "Luann" by Greg Evans
- BerniceGirl
a successful writer of cheap tales, the wife of newspaperman John Stockton in "Dark Laughter" (1925) by Sherwood Anderson
- Bernice PruittGirl
character in the 1998 film 'Hope Floats'
- "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" (1920)Girl
short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Bernice "Bernie" ClaskyGirl
character in the film, "Spanglish"