Bertha en · PROPN
Pronunciation
- /ˈbɜːθə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈbɝθə/ (General-American)
Etymology
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.
Meanings
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A female given name from the Germanic languages.
"No wonder she never gets anywhere with a name like Bertha," Sally said, while having coffee afterwards with two of the other night-coursers. "It goes with her outfits, though." ( Bertha sports the macrame look, with health-food sandals and hand-weave skirts that don't do a thing for her square figure, [...])
1983, Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg, McCleland-Bantam, →ISBN, page 135:You are the beautiful Bertha, the spinner, the queen of Helvetia; / She whose story I read at a stall in the streets of Southampton
1858, Henry Wadswoth Longfellow, The Courtship of Miles Standish:Why couldn't they have called her by her first name, Bertha, which was beautiful and dignified, instead of that silly "Rilla"?
1921, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside, Echo Library, published 2006, →ISBN, page 12:
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(alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of Perchta (“goddess in Alpine paganism”).
alt of Perchta
Translations (15)
fo Berta (female given name) · fr Berthe (female given name) · sl Berta (female given name) · es Berta (female given name) · hu Berta (female given name) · nrf Berthe (female given name) · de Bertha (female given name) · oc Bèrta (female given name) · sv Berta (female given name) · sk Berta (female given name) · gl Berta (female given name) · da Bertha (female given name) · cs Berta (female given name) · fi Bertta (female given name) · lv Berta (female given name)