QUOTE: I'm not sure about your first question, but I can give you a yes to the second. I had a gr-gfr., Bernard, who was called "Barney", and a friend, Bernadette, called "Bernie". Fran Weeks Bernie is indeed a "nickname" for Bernard. My in-laws have a friend, Bernard, and he always goes by "Bernie". On a genealogical note, my grandfather was named Barnard Joseph Daly at birth, but probably only used the name in school. When on his own, he used the form "Joseph Bernard" even changing the "a" to "e" which is the more popular form. I went to grade school with a Bernard, born in the early 1950's of Slovak parents, but never hear the name anymore. It's funny this conversation came up. In Cleveland last week, a radio station was having a tongue-in-cheek survey about the name Bernard, and asked the question as to whether anyone knew living Bernards. They asked people to call in. I couldn't listen very long, so I don't know how the survey turned out. Patricia