Bertha

Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German berhta meaning "bright one".
The name occurs as a theonym, surviving as Berchta, a figure in Alpine folklore connected to the Wild Hunt, probably an epithet of *Frijjō in origin.
Bertha appears as a Frankish given name from as early as the 6th century. The monothematic Bertha as a given name may however not originate with the theonym but rather as a short form of dithematic given names including the "bright" element. This is notably the case with the mother of Charlemagne, Bertrada (properly berht-rada "bright counsel") called "Bertha Broadfoot". Carolingian uses of the name Bertha, as in the case of Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne and Bertha, daughter of Lothair II, are in this tradition.
In modern times, the name is associated with machines that are abnormally large, and many large machines are nicknamed Bertha. This is largely because of the World-War I howitzer known as Big Bertha.
Women named Bertha include:
Saint Bertha of Kent (539-c. 612), Queen of Kent
Saint Bertha of Val d'Or (d. c. 690), abbess
Saint Bertha of Artois (mid 7th century - July 4, 725), abbess, daughter of Count Rigobert and Ursana
Bertrada of Laon (also called Bertha with the big feet) (720-783), Frankish queen
Saint Bertha of Bingen (fl. c. 840?), mother of Saint Rupert of Bingen
Bertha, daughter of Lothair II (died 925)
Blessed Bertha de Bardi, Florence; (d. March 24, 1163)
Bertha, Duchess of Brittany (c. 1114-1156)
Bertha of Burgundy (952, 964 or 967 – 1010, 16 January 1016, or 1035), queen of France
Bertha of Hereford (born c. 1130), heiress
Bertha of Holland (c. 1055–1093), queen of France
Bertha of Putelendorf (died 1190), Saxon noble
Bertha of Savoy (1051-1087)
Bertha of Sulzbach (1110-1159), Byzantine empress
Bertha of Swabia (c. 907-966), queen of Burgundy
Bertha of Val d'Or (died c. 690), a Christian saint
Bertha Benz (1849-1944), wife of inventor Karl Benz
Bertha Southey Brammall (1878-1957), Australian writer
Bertha Brainard (1890-1946), pioneering television executive
Bertha Coombs (born 1961), reporter
Bertha Díaz (born 1936), Cuban track and field athlete
Bertha "Chippie" Hill (1905–1950), American blues and vaudeville singer and dancer
Bertha von Hillern (born 1857), American athlete and painter
Bertha Kalich (1874-1939), Jewish actress
Bertha Krupp (1886-1957), sole proprietor of the Krupp industrial empire from 1902 to 1943
Bertha Knight Landes (1868-1943), first female mayor of a major American city (Seattle, Washington)
Bertha Lewis (1887–1931), English opera singer and actress
Bertha Mahony (1882–1969), publisher of children's literature
Bertha Palmer (1849–1918), American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist
Bertha Pappenheim (1859-1936), Austrian-Jewish feminist and social pioneer
Bertha Lee Pate (died 1975), American blues vocalist
Bertha Ronge (1818-1863), Anglo-German kindergarten activist
Bertha Runkle (1879-1958), American novelist and playwright
Bertha Sánchez (born 1978), Colombian long-distance runner
Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914), Austrian novelist and pacifist
Bertha Tammelin, Swedish musician, composer and singer
Bertha Teague (1906-1991), Hall of Fame basketball coach
Bertha Townsend (1869-1909), American tennis player
Bertha Valerius (1824-1895), Swedish photographer
Bertha Wilson (1923-2007), first female Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Bertha Zück (1797-1868), German-Swedish royal treasurer

• Bertha (disambiguation)
• Big Bertha (disambiguation)