Bertha - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 2 syll. ber-(t)ha, be-r-tha ] The girl name Bertha is pronounced BERTHah ^KEY. Bertha has its origins in the Germanic language and it is used largely in French. Derived from the word berht with the meaning 'bright, famous'. Old forms of the name include the Germanic Berahta, the Germanic Berchta, and the Germanic Perchta. The name could have originated as the short form of other Germanic names starting with the element 'berht'. In Southern Germanic mythology, it was borne by Perchta or Berchta, a goddess and guardian of the beasts. The name was popularized in medieval times by Bertha Bigfoot, the beautiful mother of the emperor Charlemagne, who appeared as a romantic heroine in medieval romantic tales. The name was later introduced by the Normans into England, but its use died out by the end of the Middle Ages. It saw revival in the 19th century, due to a re-introduction from Germany. In World War I, a German howitzer was nicknamed Big Bertha, after Frau Bertha Krupp, the wife of the head of the Krupp armaments firm. In literature, the name was borne by Rochester's mad first wife in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre (1847). Bertha is the feminine equivalent of the Dutch, English, and German Bert.

Forms of Bertha include the Czech, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Slavic, and Spanish Berta, the German Berte, the French Berthe, the German and French Bertine, the English Bertita, the Scandinavian Birta, and the Scandinavian and German Birthe. The pet forms Bertie (English), Bertina (English), and Birdie (English) are other variants of the name.

Bertha is unusual as a baby girl name. In 1900, 0.949% of baby girls were named Bertha. It had a ranking of #16 then. The baby name has dropped out of favor since then, and is of only sporadic use now. Among all girl names in its family, Bertha was nevertheless the most commonly used in 2007. The name Bertha has mainly been a girl name, although it has also been given to boys in the last century. There were 102 times more girls than boys who were named Bertha in 1910.

Baby names that sound like Bertha include the Albanian Barida, the English Beradette, the German and Scandinavian Berit, the Czech, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Slavic, and Spanish Berta, the English Bertie, the English Birdie, the Scandinavian Birta, the Irish Breeda, the English Bretta, the English Bridi, the English Bridie, the Finnish, German, and Scandinavian Brita, the German, Scandinavian, and English Britta, the English Brittie, the English Britty, the English Brydie, the Albanian Baridë, the German Berte, the French Berthe, the English Bertita, the German and Scandinavian Birte, the Scandinavian and German Birthe, the English Bret, the English Brett, the English Brette, the Irish Bride, the English Bright, the Scandinavian Brit, the Dutch, Scandinavian, and English Britt, the English Britte, and the Irish and Scottish Bríd.

^KEY: English pronunciation for Bertha: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"

Popularity Trend
for Bertha
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Bertha
in 2007