Bertha

Where Bertha comes from

Definitely from Old English Berþa as a result of metathesis of h, from earlier Old English Berhte (“bright one”), influence of Latin Bercta. Alternatively, from Old High German berhta (“bright one”), which was an epithet of the goddess Frigg.
— Wiktionary's entry for Bertha
  • Germanic
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1843
    Bertha von Suttner born
    Austrian novelist, radical (organizational) pacifist, editor
  2. 1849
    Bertha Benz born
    German automobile pioneer, with husband Karl Benz
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #9 among girls — 1,320 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1888
    Peak, #7
    2,450 babies named Bertha — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1953
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #233.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Bertha von Suttner · Austrian novelist, radical (organizational) pacifist, editor, 1843–1914
  • Bertha Benz · German automobile pioneer, with husband Karl Benz, 1849–1944
  • Bertha Lutz · Brazilian scientist, 1894–1976
  • Bertha of Savoy · Holy Roman Empress from 1084 to 1087, 1051–1087
  • Bertha of Kent · 6th century queen consort of Kent, born 565

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.