Bernardina

Bernardina is a feminine Latinate form of Bernardino, itself a diminutive of the Germanic name Bernhard, composed of the elements bern, meaning bear, and hard, meaning brave or strong. The name spread widely through Catholic Europe in part due to the veneration of Saint Bernardino of Siena, the fifteenth-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. Related forms include Bernardine in French, Bernarda in Spanish and Slavic traditions, and the masculine Bernardino and Bernhard.