| Bernard | Reginald | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Bold as a bear | counsel-ruler |
| Origin | germanic | germanic |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | BUR-nard | REJ-ih-nuld |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1924 (4,505) | 1962 (2,647) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Bernard | Reginald |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 845 | 1,155 |
| 2010s | 1,608 | 3,068 |
| 2000s | 2,252 | 5,271 |
| 1990s | 4,159 | 9,724 |
| 1980s | 6,507 | 13,500 |
| 1970s | 9,100 | 17,191 |
| 1960s | 17,475 | 24,921 |
| 1950s | 25,887 | 19,338 |
| 1940s | 26,446 | 7,090 |
| 1930s | 30,545 | 3,864 |
| 1920s | 42,408 | 3,699 |
| 1910s | 25,628 | 1,929 |
| 1900s | 3,296 | 439 |
| 1890s | 2,315 | 231 |
| 1880s | 1,616 | 131 |
From Germanic 'bern' (bear) and 'hard' (brave, hardy), 'brave/strong as a bear' - the bear being a warrior symbol. Borne by several saints.
From Germanic 'ragin' ('counsel, advice') + 'wald' ('rule, power'), i.e. 'ruler by counsel' / 'counsel-power'. Note: this is 'ruler/power', NOT literally 'king'. Reynold and Ronald are closely related forms.
Bernard and Reginald are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Bernard means Bold as a bear (germanic origin), while Reginald means counsel-ruler (germanic origin).
In US records, Bernard first appears in 0 and Reginald in 0, so Bernard has the longer recorded history.