Given name & surname
Bernice
“one who brings victory”
Bernice is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “one who brings victory.”
Original GreekΒερνικη
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “one who brings victory.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Bernice appears in Acts 25:13, Acts 25:23.
- Acts 25:13
- Acts 25:23
From biblical name research
Bernice through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 185,533
- 3,403 boys · 182,130 girls
- Most popular year
- 1921
- 6,309 babies
- 2025
- 35
- #4,082 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −28%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 35 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 4,082 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 28.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 6,190 in 1921. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 48,083 as a first name in 2020; 169 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Bernice’s family of names
In English usage, Bernice has a diminutive in Bennie. Bernice has a later derivative in Janice. Bernice has a related form in Berenice.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 6
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Bernice
- Bea ArthurAmerican actress and comedienne (1922–2009)
- Bernice RubensBritish writer (1923–2004)
- Bernice LiuHong Kong actressborn 1979
- Bernice Johnson ReagonAmerican singer, composer, and activist (1942–2024)
- Bernice KingAmerican minister and daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. (born 1963)
- Bernice LappAmerican swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist (1917–2010)
- Bernice HelooGhanaian politician and Member of parliament1954–2024
- Alaina Reed HallAmerican actress and singer (1946–2009)
- Bernice BingChinese American painter (1936–1998)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Bernice, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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