Bernardo is the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of Bernard, a Germanic name from bern, bear, and hard, brave, which means "brave as a bear" or "strong bear". Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and the Alpine pass and rescue dogs named after him kept the name alive for centuries. In the United States Bernardo ranked number 899 in 2000, peaked at number 848 in 2002 and has settled around number 1300, standing at number 1347 in 2025.