Bertha
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Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German berhta meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names Beorhtgifu meaning "bright gift" or Beorhtwynn meaning "bright joy".
The name occurs as a theonym, surviving as Berchta, a figure in Alpine folklore connected to the Wild Hunt, probably an epithet of *Frijjō in origin.
Bertha appears as a Frankish given name from as early as the 6th century.
The monothematic Bertha as a given name may, however, not originate with the theonym but rather as a short form of dithematic given names including the "bright" element.
This is notably the case with the mother of Charlemagne, Bertrada (properly berht-rada "bright counsel") called "Bertha Broadfoot." Carolingian uses of the name Bertha, as in the case of Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne and Bertha, daughter of Lothair II, are in this tradition.
In modern times, the name is associated with an unusually large example of a class of objects. Many large machines are nicknamed Bertha for the World War I howitzer known as Big Bertha.
Women named Bertha include:
Saint Bertha of Kent (539 – c. 612), Queen of Kent
Saint Bertha of Val d'Or (d. c. 690), abbess
Saint Bertha of Artois (mid-7th century – 4 July 725), abbess, daughter of Count Rigobert and Ursana
Bertrada of Laon (also called Bertha with the big feet) (720–783), Frankish queen
Saint Bertha of Bingen (fl. c. 757), mother of Saint Rupert of Bingen
Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne (c. 780 – after 11 March 824)
Bertha, daughter of Lothair II (863–925)
Blessed Bertha de Bardi, Florence; (died 24 March 1163)
Bertha, Duchess of Brittany (c. 1114 – 1156)
Bertha, Duchess of Lorraine (b.c. 1123/30 – d. 1194/5)
Bertha of Aragon (c. 1075 – bef. 1111), Queen consort of Aragon and Navarre
Bertha of Burgundy (952, 964 or 967 – 1010, 16 January 1016, or 1035), queen of France
Bertha of Hereford (born c. 1130), heiress
Bertha of Holland (c. 1055 – 1093), queen of France
Bertha of Milan (c. 997-c. 1040), countess margravine of Turin
Bertha of Putelendorf (died 1190), Saxon noble
Bertha of Rheinfelden (born c. 1065; d. after 1128), countess of Kellmünz
Bertha of Savoy (1051–1087), Queen of Germany
Bertha of Sulzbach (1110–1159), Byzantine empress
Bertha of Swabia (c. 907 – 966), queen of Burgundy
Bertha of Turin (c.1020/4 – after 1064/5), member of the Arduinici dynasty
Bertha of Val d'Or (died c. 690), a Christian saint
Bertha of Vohburg (13th-century), Austrian noblewoman and ruling vassal
Bertha Allen (1934–2010), Vuntut Gwitchin women's and aboriginal rights advocate
Bertha Bacon (1866-1922), British suffragette
Bertha Hirsch Baruch, German-American writer, social worker, and suffragist
Bertha Becker (1930–2013), Brazilian geographer, author and professor
Bertha Benz (1849–1944), wife of automobile inventor Karl Benz and the first person in history to drive an automobile over long distance
Bertha Berry (1876–1954), American nurse
Bertha Boronda (1877–1950), American criminal
Bertha Southey Brammall (1878–1957), Australian writer
Bertha Brainard (1890–1946), pioneering television executive
Bertha Brouwer (1930–2006), Dutch sprinter
Bertha Calloway (1925–2017), American activist and historian
Bertha Felix Campigli (1882–1949), American/Coast Miwok photographer
Bertha Coolidge (1880–1953), American painter
Bertha Coombs (born 1961), reporter
Bertha Crouch Chase (1874–1957), American athlete
Bertha Crowther (1921–2007), British athlete
Bertha Damon (1881–1975), American humorist, author, lecturer, and editor
Bertha Díaz (1936–2019), Cuban track and field athlete
Bertha Dorph (1875–1960), Danish painter
Bertha Edwards (1920-2009), American librarian
Bertha Bowness Fischer (1875–1920), British political agent
Bertha Fowler (1866–1952), American educator, preacher, deaconess
Bertha Gardiner (1845–1925), English historian
Bertha Gifford (1871–1951), American serial killer
Bertha Lund Glaeser (1862–1939), American physician
Bertha Gxowa (1934–2010), South African anti-apartheid activist, trade unionist, and women's rights activist
Bertha Harris (1937–2005), American novelist and activist
Bertha George Harris (1913–2014), American Catawba tribal elder and master potter
Bertha Hart, American mathematician
Bertha "Chippie" Hill (1905–1950), American blues and vaudeville singer and dancer
Bertha von Hillern (1853–1939), American athlete and painter
Bertha Heyman (born c. 1851), American criminal
Bertha Hope (born 1936), American pianist and educator
Bertha Hosang Mah (1896–1959), Canadian student
Bertha Idaho (born c. 1895), American blues singer
Bertha Jaques (1863–1941), American etcher and photographer
Bertha Kalich (1874–1939), Jewish actress
Bertha Kawakami (1931–2017), American politician and educator
Bertha Koessler-Ilg (1881–1965), German-Argentine nurse and folklorist
Bertha Kreidmann (died May 16, 1871), Hebrew poet and letter writer
Bertha Krupp (1886–1957), sole proprietor of the Krupp industrial empire from 1902 to 1943
Bertha Knight Landes (1868–1943), first female mayor of a major American city (Seattle, Washington)
Bertha Lewis (1887–1931), English opera singer and actress
Bertha Lutz (1894–1976), Brazilian zoologist, politician, and diplomat
Bertha Mahony (1882–1969), publisher of children's literature
Bertha Mann (1893–1967), American actress
Bertha Mason (1855–1939), English suffragist and temperance campaigner
Bertha Müller (1848–1937), Austrian painter
Bertha Moraes Nérici (1921–2005), Brazilian World War II nurse
Bertha Nordenson (1857–1928), Swedish activist and suffragist
Bertha Oliva (born c. 1956), Honduran human rights campaigner
Bertha Parker Pallan (1907–1978), American archaeologist
Bertha Palmer (1849–1918), American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist
Bertha Pappenheim (1859–1936), Austrian-Jewish feminist and social pioneer
Bertha Lee Pate (1903–1975), American blues vocalist
Bertha Quinn (1873–1951), British suffragette and socialist, recipient of Papal Medal
Bertha Rawlinson (1910–1994), New Zealand singer, actress, producer, composer and teacher
Bertha Reynolds (1885–1978), American social worker
Bertha E. Reynolds (1868–1961), American physician
Bertha Ronge (1818–1863), Anglo-German kindergarten activist
Bertha Runkle (1879–1958), American novelist and playwright
Bertha Ryland (1882–1977), English militant suffragette
Bertha Sánchez (born 1978), Colombian long-distance runner
Bertha Schaefer (1895–1971), American designer and gallery director
Bertha Schrader (1845–1920), German painter, lithographer, and woodblock print-maker
Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914), Austrian novelist and pacifist
Bertha Swirles (1903–1999), English physicist and applied mathematician
Bertha Tammelin, (1836–1915), Swedish musician, composer and singer
Bertha Teague (1906–1991), Hall of Fame basketball coach
Bertha Thalheimer (1883–1959), German activist and politician
Bertha Thomas (1845-1918), English author
Bertha Townsend (1869–1909), American tennis player
Bertha L. Turner (1867–1938), American caterer, cookbook author, and community leader
Bertha Valerius (1824–1895), Swedish photographer
Bertha Valkenburg (1862-1929), Dutch artist
Bertha Vyver (1854–1941), caretaker for Scottish poet Charles Mackay and the companion of Marie Corelli
Bertha Wegmann (1847–1926), Danish painter
Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann (1815–1901), German photographer
Bertha Wellin (1870–1951), Swedish politician and nurse
Bertha Whedbee (1876–1960), American activist, suffragist, and police officer
Bertha Yerex Whitman (1892–1984), American architect
Bertha Wiernik (1884-1951), Jewish American writer
Bertha Willmott (1894–1973), British actress, comedienne, singer and performer
Bertha Wilson (1923–2007), first female Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Bertha M. Wilson (1874–1936), American dramatist, critic, actress
Bertha Wright (1876–1971), American nurse
Bertha Zillessen (1872–1936), German painter and photographer
Bertha Zück (1797–1868), German-Swedish royal treasurer
Bertha Zuricher (1869–1949), Swiss author, painter and engraver
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Skoell - 2023-11-22 00:00:00
Credo - 2023-10-31 00:00:00
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