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Boy · Old High German
Berthold
Say it: BAIR-tolt
Meaning
From Germanic berht 'bright' and wald 'rule'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Borne by the Zähringen dukes who founded Bern and Freiburg.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 267 babies given this name since 1908
- At its height in 1908, about 1 in 30,900 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Bertold, Berchtold
| Italian | Bertoldo |
|---|---|
| French | Berthaud |
Famous bearers
- Bertolt Brecht, playwright
- Berthold of Regensburg, preacher
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- Medieval European charters and records
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.