Bertrand
Masculine · “bright shield-rim”
Bertrand and Bertram are two halves of one argument. Both begin with the Germanic word for bright. What they end with is disputed: one carries a raven, the other the rim of a shield, and the two names have been trading places in the records for a thousand years.
How old is the name Bertrand?
Bertrand was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Bertrand alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 1,500 people named Bertrand are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bertrand most popular?
Bertrand peaked in 1896, reaching #518 nationally. See the whole 1896 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From beraht to Bertrand
The story of Bertrand
The Franks brought both names into France, where they were common among the nobility and where the -rand ending settled as the standard spelling. The name's great bearer is Bertrand du Guesclin, a Breton knight of the fourteenth century who rose from minor gentry to Constable of France, fought the English through the long middle stretch of the Hundred Years War, and was buried among the kings at Saint-Denis. After him the name is unmistakably French, and it reached English mainly through Norman families and, much later, through admiration for France. In America it has always been rare and has always read as a name with an accent behind it.
Meaningscholars disagree
bright shield-rim, or bright raven
The first element is certain. The second is not: rand, the edge of a shield, gives Bertrand, while hramn, a raven, gives Bertram, and French scribes wrote whichever they had heard. Many medieval Bertrands are Bertrams in another document.
How the name formed
- beraht
- Bertram
- Bertrand
Related forms: Bertrand · Bertrando · Bertram · Beltran · Bertrand
Pronouncing Bertrand
BER-trund
Two syllables with the weight at the front in English. French says ber-TRAHN, back-weighted, with the final consonant barely there.
Nicknames for Bertrand
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 192593 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #518reached in 1896
- Change vs 2017
- +42.9%10 in 2021, 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.
Bertrand in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bertrand in French — same name
- Bertrando in Italian — same name
- Bertram in German — related form
- Beltran in Spanish — same name
- Bertrand in Dutch — same name
Bertrands among us
people named Bertrand are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bertrand 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
- It is a standing name in French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch, so it crosses borders without changing.
- Bert and Bertie are established short forms that ask nothing of the listener.
- It has a documented history stretching from the Franks to the present, with real bearers at every stage.
- Bertram is close enough to be substituted constantly, in speech and on paper.
- The short form Bert belongs to a generation, and a child may arrive at it before choosing it.
- In America the full name reads as formal and slightly foreign, which is either the point or the problem.
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What they receive
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Bertrand
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Bertrands are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Bertrand are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bertrand in 2025?
- Bertrand is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Bertrand with classmates?
- Bertrand will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bertrand? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bertrand and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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