Bernie

UK/bɜːni/US/ˈbɝni/

Bernie proper noun: a diminutive of the male given name Bernard, also used as a formal given name.

Proper noun

Bernie (plural Bernies)

A diminutive of the male given name Bernard, also used as a formal given name.
- A similar arrangement was made for her son Bernard, named in honor of the great Carthusian mystic (at least, that is what Jim Gaffney would softly tell Mrs. Kozinski) and of Bernie Astor, the publicist.1992, Thomas Keneally, Woman of the Inner Sea, Plume, published 1994, →ISBN, pages 18–19
- With Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decision to end his campaign on Wednesday, it’s now official: Former Vice President Joe Biden will be the Democratic presidential nominee this fall.2020 April 8, Chris Cillizza, “Why Joe Biden starts as the general election front-runner”, in CNN
A diminutive of the female given names Bernice and Bernadette.
- To catch a nearer view of the coming ship, now much larger than the mere speck it had at first appeared, little Bernice, or Bernie, as she was most lovingly called at home, had moved far in advance of her mother, till now she stood quite near to the edge of the wharf.1864 Mary Andrews Denison, Out of Prison, Graves and Young (1864), pages 21-22

Bernie (plural Bernies)

* (male): From Bernard + -ie. * (female): From Bernadette + -ie or Bernice + -ie.

From Bernese + -ie.

What does Bernie mean?: Bernie means a diminutive of the male given name Bernard, also used as a formal given name.
What part of speech is Bernie?: Bernie can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Bernie?: Bernie is pronounced /bɜːni/ (UK).

Adapted from Wiktionary: Bernie (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “Bernie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bernie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.