Bertrand

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bertrand is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name172K records spelled Bertrand7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Bertránd, Bêrträñd, Bêrtraeñd

• a separate given name6.1K records spelled Bertrand2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium

• Chinese given name2.5K records spelled Bertrand2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Switzerland, Belgium, United States, Cameroon

  Also written Betrand

• Italian given name919 records spelled Bertrand2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Italy, Cameroon, Belgium

  Also written Bertrando

88 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bertrand is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, from the personal name Bertrand, a Germanic name with beraht- 'bright'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In French, from Germanic *berht- 'bright' + *hramn- or *nand- element

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In French, a male given name, equivalent to English Bertram

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Du nom germanique Berhthramn, de berht « brillant, illustre » et hramn « corbeau ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire des noms de famille du Canada français. Anthroponymie et généalogie. 2e édition

• In French, Origine germanique, signifie « illustre corbeau ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 135 years between 1880–2021. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Clement Vb. 1264FRnot in their usual namepope of the Catholic Church from 1305 to 1314 (1264–1314)
• Bertrand Russellb. 1872GBBritish philosopher and logician (1872–1970)
• Bert Patenaudeb. 1909USnot in their usual nameAmerican soccer player (1909-1974)
• Rainier IIIb. 1923MCnot in their usual namePrince of Monaco from 1949 to 2005 (1923-2005)
• Bertrand Blierb. 1939FRFrench film director (1939–2025)
• Bertrand Tavernierb. 1941FRFrench film director (1941–2021)
• Bertrand Halperinb. 1941USAmerican mathematician and physicist
• Bertrand Delanoëb. 1950FR13th Mayor of Paris
• Richard Spencerb. 1978USnot in their usual nameAmerican journalist and politician (b. 1978)
• Eric Baillyb. 1994CInot in their usual nameIvorian association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 525 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bertrand?

We estimate roughly 2.8 thousand people bear Bertrand (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Bertrand have the most bearers?

Bertrand is most frequently recorded in France, where it is most often spelled bertrand.

How common is Bertrand compared with other names?

In France, Bertrand is the 268th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Bertrand a male or female name?

Bertrand is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Bertrand mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic name from berht 'bright, famous' and hramn 'raven' or rand 'shield'; etymology varies.