Berta
Feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "bright" or "glorious".
Name Census estimates that about 2,523 living Americans carry the first name Berta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berta today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berta births was 1926 (132 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berta. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Berta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 135,852 Americans
Peak year
1926
132 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,373
Tracked since 1880
Census
Berta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,782 people with the first name Berta, which placed it at #2,221 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,221
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
11,782 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
80.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Berta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berta is Hispanic at 80.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Black (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Berta described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Berta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino80.0% · 9,423
- White16.3% · 1,915
- Black or African American2.7% · 313
- Two or more races0.5% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 35
Popularity
Berta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berta from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,172 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berta by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Berta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bertas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Berta, while Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 170 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Berta
The name Berta has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the word "beraht" which means "bright" or "shining." It was a popular name during the Middle Ages, particularly in areas of Germanic influence such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Berta comes from the 7th century, when Saint Berta of Blangy, a Frankish abbess, lived in the region of Artois in modern-day France. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and her feast day is celebrated on May 1st.
In the 9th century, Berta was the name of a Carolingian queen, wife of Angilbert, who was a courtier and close advisor to Charlemagne. She is known for her intelligence and is mentioned in several literary works of the time.
During the High Middle Ages, the name Berta gained popularity across Europe. One notable figure was Berta of Susa, who lived in the 11th century and was the wife of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. She played a significant role in the Investiture Controversy, a major conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 12th century, Berta was the name of a legendary figure in the Nibelungenlied, a famous German epic poem. She was portrayed as the wife of King Günther and played a pivotal role in the tragic events of the story.
Another notable Berta was Berta of Sulzbach, who lived in the 12th century and was the wife of the Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Komnenos. She was known for her beauty and intelligence and played an important role in the imperial court of Constantinople.
While the name Berta has declined in popularity in modern times, it remains a part of cultural heritage, particularly in German-speaking regions. Its historical significance and association with notable figures from the past have contributed to its enduring presence in the annals of name history.
People
Berta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Berta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,523 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berta going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 135,852 US residents.
Is Berta a common name?
We classify Berta as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berta most popular?
The single biggest year for Berta was 1926, when 132 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berta is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Berta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,782 people with the name Berta, or 3.90 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,221 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Berta in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Berta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Berta appears almost entirely female. Of the 11,771 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Berta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Berta is Hispanic at 80.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Black (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Berta most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Berta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.0% (9,423 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Berta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berta in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Berta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berta in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Berta can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Berta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.