Bernadine is the feminine of Bernard — from the Old Germanic *bern* ("bear") + *hard* ("brave, strong") — "brave as a bear." **A top-200 US baby name from 1910 to 1945**. **Bernadine "Bernie" Harris** — central character of Terry McMillan's bestselling novel *Waiting to Exhale* (1992) and the 1995 film adaptation directed by Forest Whitaker, where she was played by Angela Bassett; **Bernadine's scene burning her unfaithful husband's car and possessions became one of the most-iconic moments in 1990s American cinema and a cultural touchstone for women's empowerment**. **Bernardine Dohran (born 1942)** — American activist; leader of the Weather Underground (1969-1980); later a clinical law professor at Northwestern University. **Bernardine Evaristo (born 1959)** — British author; her novel *Girl, Woman, Other* (2019) won the Booker Prize — making her **the first Black woman and first Black British person ever to win the Booker** (shared with Margaret Atwood). **Saint Bernardino of Siena** is the male form. **Bernadine Healy (1944-2011)** — first woman director of the US National Institutes of Health (1991-1993). **Bernardine** is also a variant spelling.
Featured throughout 20th-century literature and African American culture.
Bernadine reduces to three — the number of Waiting to Exhale.