Bertel
A Germanic masculine name derived from "Bright" and "Ruler" or "Noble One".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Bertel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bertel today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bertel births was 1916 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bertel. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bertel is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bertels were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bertel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1916
12 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1944 SSA rank
#3,476
Tracked since 1913
Popularity
Bertel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bertel from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 54 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bertel 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 Bertel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bertel
The given name Bertel has its origins in the Germanic languages. It is a diminutive form of the name Berthold, which is composed of the elements "beraht" meaning "bright" and "waldan" meaning "to rule". The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in areas populated by Germanic tribes such as modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, and parts of Scandinavia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bertel can be found in the Annales Bertiniani, a set of Frankish annals from the 9th century. These annals mention a man named Bertel who served as a chamberlain to the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Bertel de Henaut was a Flemish crusader who participated in the Sixth Crusade to the Holy Land. He is mentioned in various chronicles from that time period.
During the Renaissance, a German astronomer and mathematician named Bertel Brudzewski, born around 1490, made significant contributions to the understanding of planetary motion and the heliocentric model of the solar system.
In the 17th century, a Danish naval officer and explorer named Bertel Jensen Anker led several expeditions to Greenland and contributed to the mapping of the island's coastline.
In more recent times, a Finnish writer and poet named Bertel Gripenberg, who lived from 1878 to 1947, was known for his works in the Swedish language and his contributions to Finnish literature.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the given name Bertel. While the name has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries.
People
Bertel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bertel 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
Bertel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bertel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bertel 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Bertel a common name?
We classify Bertel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bertel most popular?
The single biggest year for Bertel was 1916, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bertel is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bertel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bertel in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.