Definition of "Bernie"

A unisex given name

1. A diminutive of the male given name Bernard, also used as a formal given name.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, pages 18–19

2. A diminutive of the female given names Bernice or Bernadette.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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