Bert is a hypocoristic form of a number of various Germanic male given names, such as

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

, Albert, Elbert,

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

, Hilbert, Hubert,

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...

, Wilbert, Filbert, Norbert, Osbert,

Bertram Bertram may refer to: Places * Bertram, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Australia *Bertram, Iowa, United States, a city * Bertram, Texas, United States, a city * Bertram Building, a historic building in Austin, Texas * Bertram Glacier, Palmer ...

, Berthold, Bertrand, Umberto, Humbert, Cuthbert, Delbert, Dilbert, Dagobert, Rimbert, Egbert, Siegbert, Gualbert, Gerbert,

Lambert Lambert may refer to People *Lambert (name), a given name and surname * Lambert, Bishop of Ostia (c. 1036–1130), became Pope Honorius II *Lambert, Margrave of Tuscany ( fl. 929–931), also count and duke of Lucca *Lambert (pianist), stage-name ...

, Engelbert, Friedbert, Gombert, Calbert, Leebert and Colbert. There is a large number of Germanic names ending in ''-bert'', second in number only to those ending in ''-wolf'' (''-olf'', ''-ulf''). Most of these names are early medieval and only a comparatively small fraction remains in modern use. The element ''-berht'' has the meaning of "

bright Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People *Bright (surname) *Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage name ...

", Old English ''beorht/berht'', Old High German ''beraht/bereht'', ultimately from a

Common Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bra ...

*''berhtaz'', from a PIE root *''bhereg-'' "white, bright". The female hypocoristic of names containing the same element is Berta. Modern English

itself has the same etymology, but it has suffered metathesis at an early date, already in the Old English period, attested as early as AD 700 in the Lindisfarne Gospels. The unmetastasized form disappears after AD 1000 and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

from about 1200 has ''briht'' universally.

Names containing ''berht''

There is no evidence of the ''berht'' element in Germanic personal names prior to the 6th century. It is mostly unknown in names of

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...

, Vandals,

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany ...

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

, and only rarely occurs in names of Saxons. By contrast, it is very common among

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

and Bavarians. The popularity of the element in certain areas may be related to religion, similar to the ''wolf'' element being due to the worship of Wodanaz, the names with ''berht'' can be considered theophoric, in connection with the goddess

Perchta or (English: Bertha), also commonly known as and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and Austrian regions of the Alps. Her name may mean "the bright one" ( goh, beraht, bereht, from Proto-Germa ...

. The full form of Old High German ''beraht'' is reduced in two ways, by omission of either the second (''berht, perht, pert'') or the first vowel (''braht, praht, brat, prat, brecht''). Early attestations of such names include ''Ethberictus'', ''Garberictus'', and ''Transberictus'' mentioned in Hontheim's ''Historia Trevirensis'' s. a. 699. Pardessus' ''Diplomata'' s. a. 745 has ''Berdbert'' as a rare example of a reduplicated Germanic name. Förstemann counts 369 names with final ''-bert(a)'', of which 61 are feminine.E. Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'' (1856), p. 235–254. Given names that remain in modern use include: # names with ''-bert'' as final element #* Albert/ Æthelberht, Cuthbert, Dagobert, Elbert, Egbert, Engelbert, Filbert, Gerbert,

Harbert Harbert is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bill L. Harbert (1923–2010), American businessman *Chick Harbert (1915–1992), American golfer *Elizabeth Boynton Harbert (1843–1925), American author, lecturer, reformer, philan ...

, Hubert, Humbert, Ingbert, Isambard (Isembert), Norbert,

, Tolbert, Wilbert # names with ''Bert-'' as first element #*

, Berthold, Bertrand