Bert
Feminine
Bert is given to boys far more often — 33,585 boys against 657 girls since 1880. See Bert as a boy name
Bert is the ending of at least six different Germanic names, registered on its own since American records began, and which one a given family had in mind is not recoverable. The English word for financial ruin describes a piece of furniture being destroyed.
How old is the name Bert?
Bert first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Bert alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Bert are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Bert most popular?
Bert peaked in 1887, reaching #788 nationally. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Bert
A bankrupt is a broken bench. The word comes from the Italian banca rotta, and the bench is literal: medieval money changers and merchant bankers worked at a table in the marketplace — the banca that gives English bank — and the story, repeated in law books for centuries, is that a dealer who could not meet his obligations had his table broken so that he could not trade from it. Whether the smashing was ever a formal legal act or just a phrase is debated by historians, but the image is old and consistent. The same word gives bank, banquet, banquette and mountebank, who was a quack standing up on a bench to sell his remedies to a crowd.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The element it consists of means bright, and it closes Albert, Herbert, Robert, Gilbert, Norbert and Hubert among others. Registered alone it points back to all of them and to none in particular.
Pronouncing Bert
BURT
One syllable. In accents that pronounce the r it is identical to the surname-derived Burt, and in accents that do not the two are indistinguishable either way.
Nicknames for Bert
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 191420 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #788reached in 1887
- Change vs 1959
- −28.6%5 in 1960, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Berts among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Bert are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bert sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- One syllable is quick, clear and hard to mishear across a room.
- It is understood instantly and needs no introduction anywhere.
- Any of several formal names can stand behind it if one is wanted.
- Burt is a separate name with a different origin and will be written for it.
- It reads as a short form even when it is the registered name.
- It is strongly associated with a particular stretch of the last century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Bert to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Bert? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Bert
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Berts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Bert are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Bert in 2025?
- Bert is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Bert with classmates?
- Bert will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bert? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bert and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle