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 [ syll. be-re-ni-ce, ber-en-ice ] The girl name Berenice is pronounced BEHerEHNahS- KEY. Berenice has its origins in the Old Greek language, and it is used largely in English, German, and Italian. Berenice is of the meaning 'bearer of victory'. Biblical name derived from phero which means 'to bear, to carry' ; nike which means 'victory'. The name is from the ancient Macedonian form for Pherenike (Old Greek); it has the same origins as Veronica. The name was borne in the Bible by a sister of King Herod Agrippa II, and by a Christian mentioned in the Book of Acts. The name was also borne by Berenika (350 BC), priestess of Demetra in Lete. The Egyptian queen Berenice I brought the name into Egypt after she married Ptolemy I; her husband later named a Red Sea port after her. The name was introduced to Europe and Asia after the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was later adopted by English Puritans in the 17th century. Variant forms of the name include the Scottish Bearnas, the German, English, and Greek Berenike, the English Berenis, the English Bernessa, the Spanish Bernicia, the French Bérénice, and the English Brona. The short form Bernice (English), the pet forms Bernetta (English), Bernie (English), Berry (English), Binnie (English), and Bunny (English), and the spelling variant Bernise (English) are other forms of Berenice. See also the related form, the English, Italian, and Romanian Veronica. Berenice is unusual as a baby name for girls. Its usage peaked modestly in 1995 with 0.017% of baby girls being named Berenice. Its ranking then was #655. The baby name has since dropped out of favor, and is currently of only sporadic use. In 2008, among the group of girl names directly related to Berenice, the English, Italian, and Romanian Veronica was the most regularly used. Baby names that sound like Berenice include the French Bérénice, the English Berenis, the German, English, and Greek Berenike, the English Bernessa, the Spanish Bernicia, the Scottish Bearnas, the English Bernice, the English Bernise, the Galician and Portuguese Branca, the Welsh Brangwy, the English Brani, and the Czech and Slavic Branka. KEY: approx pronunciation for Berenice: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; S as in "sea (S.IY)"   |
