I don't see the problem linking Barnard to
Bernard? Flemish is one of the languages most closely related to English, so it's not surprising that a very similar form of the name would turn up there. And
Barney is a common nickname for
Bernard, providing another link. The
German form is
Bernhard; other related names are here: (
http://www.behindthename.com/php/extra.php?extra=r&terms=bernard).
No,
Bernard is not from Old English. Click the link! :-) It's derived from the Germanic elements
bern "bear" and
hard "brave, hardy".
Me and names . . . I've been interested in names in general since I was about 2 years old. I became interested in name usage when I was about 14 (after getting hold of the "baby names" book my Mum used when naming my much-younger half-sister), and I got really interested in name etymology after taking Linguistics in my first year of university (1999).
:-)
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.