Berthine
A French feminine name meaning "bright one" or "shining light".
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Berthine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Berthine today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Berthine births was 1918 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Berthine. 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 Berthine is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Berthines were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Berthine. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1918
6 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1944 SSA rank
#4,102
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Berthine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Berthine from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Berthine 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 Berthine 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 Berthine
Berthine is a French feminine given name derived from the Germanic root Berht, meaning "bright" or "shining." It is a variant of the more common name Bertha, which shares the same etymology. The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in France and other regions influenced by Frankish and Germanic cultures.
During the Early Middle Ages, the name Berthine was particularly popular among the Frankish nobility and royal families. One of the earliest recorded bearers of this name was Berthine, a daughter of Charlemagne, the renowned Frankish king who ruled from 768 to 814 CE. Her existence is documented in the Royal Frankish Annals, a historical chronicle of the Carolingian dynasty.
In the 9th century, there was a notable figure named Berthine of Prüm, a Benedictine abbess who played a significant role in the religious and cultural life of the Frankish kingdom. She founded the Abbey of Prüm in present-day Germany and was renowned for her piety and leadership.
Another historical figure bearing the name Berthine was Berthine de Rothenburg (c. 1180-1246), a German mystic and Benedictine nun. She is known for her spiritual writings and her reputation for miraculous healings and visions, which earned her veneration as a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the 13th century, Berthine de Villeneuve (c. 1220-1268) was a French noblewoman and the wife of Arnaud de Villeneuve, a renowned medieval philosopher and alchemist. She is mentioned in various historical records and chronicles from that period.
During the Renaissance, Berthine de Marillac (1591-1656) was a French noblewoman and the co-founder of the Daughters of Charity, a Catholic religious order dedicated to serving the poor and sick. She worked closely with St. Vincent de Paul and is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church.
While the name Berthine has its roots in the Germanic and Frankish traditions, it has continued to be used throughout various regions of Europe, particularly in France and German-speaking areas, until modern times. However, it has become less common in recent centuries, with many variations and diminutives being more widely adopted.
People
Berthine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Berthine 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
Berthine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Berthine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Berthine 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Berthine a common name?
We classify Berthine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Berthine most popular?
The single biggest year for Berthine was 1918, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Berthine is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Berthine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Berthine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Berthine 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 Berthine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Berthine 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 Berthine 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Berthine?
See how many Americans are named Berthine on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.