A female name. (French Berthe, German Bertha, Italian Berta); primarily a Frankish name, a pet-form of some of the many names in berhta (Old English beorht) ‘bright’. It was a favourite with the Carolings, having been the name of the mother of Charlemagne. The only occurrence in England before the Norman Conquest is Bercta, d. of Charibert and queen of Æthelbert, King of Kent. After the Norman Conquest it was in regular though not frequent use, often appearing in the form Berta. It does not appear to have been much used after about the beginning of the 14th C, though Lyford 1655 gives it in his list of christian names. It came back into use with other old names in the 19th C, one of the earliest to use it being the poet Southey, one of whose dd. was named Bertha.

Bertha, Berta Curia Regis Rolls 1205-15. Berta Life of St. Werburga, transl. 1573 1513.

In Teutonic languages, ‘the bright one,’ ‘the shining one’: cf. the first element in Bertram. ‘This name ... has the same meaning as Epiphany night, which commemorates the visit of the Magi to Christ, on the twelfth day after that of his birth. The name was first Perchtan... contracted into Perchta, thence... Berchta, and thence... Bertha, or (in Fr.) Berthe’. Medievalists have extracted a little innocent fun from a naive poem entitled Berthe aux Grands Pieds (Big-Feet Bertha). Among Roman Catholics, it is a favourite name for girls born on January 6; but in England it is somwhat demode.

From the Old German name Berta; from bert, brecht, bret, bright, illustrious.

Teutonic (feminine) - The shining one.

A Teutonic name, meaning: Bright one: beautiful.