Comments for the name Bertha

When I hear the name Bertha, an overweight, unattractive woman immediately comes to mind.

Bertha is a hideous old lady's name, and you'd have to be smoking weed to give it to your child.

I agree, when I hear the name Bertha, an overweight old red-ringleted woman comes into my mind, it probably didn't help that this is what Bertha looks like in Gosford Park.

Why does Bertha sound so awful? Because we aren't pronouncing it correctly, that's why! "BER-ta" sounds much better than "BUR-tha", doesn't it? Why do English speakers slur their vowels?

This was my great-grandmother's middle name. I'm glad they decided not to make it my middle name (I'm named for her). The German pronunciation is pretty though and since that is the language her family spoke at home when she was growing up I guess it wouldn't have been so bad.

I honestly have never realy liked the name Bertha. This is as there once was a game you could play at the seaside called Big Bertha. While fun, this ruined the name for me.

Am I the only one who actually likes this name? I think it's rather cute.

No matter how you pronounce it, this name is ugly, old-fashioned, and has connotations to fat women.

I'm sorry but this has to be one of the ugliest names I have ever heard.

It's ugly, old-fashioned, and sounds like "birth a".

Hehe, I'm sorry to those who are named Bertha, but I seriously dislike this name. This gives me a mental image of an overweight woman who smokes and gives you a toothy grin. But hey, if I had a choice between Bertha and Placenta, which one do you think I'd choose? Both equally bad, but my gosh the latter is just awful and yes there is a girl named that!

I can't picture this name on a little girl, but I have nothing against this name, anyway. I like the sound of it. =)

It looks very beautiful, the German pronunciation is beautiful as well, but the English pronunciation is awful. If I were to use this, which I might, I'd definitely use the German pronunciation.

I do not like this name at all, neither pronunciation - German or English - sounds pretty to me. My mother always said this was a name for a cow. I think it conjures up an image of an old, overweight woman with curled hair who devotes her life to baking. Not the best image.

I find this name to be a very ugly name, sorry! I think of fat women as a lot of people say.

What is it that makes people think of fat women when they hear this name because I completely agree. Just hideous!

There is nothing anyone could possible say to make this name sound attractive.

My late mother, who would be in her 90's, was named Bertha, as were at least 4 of her friends, and to a woman, they loathed it. But names have fashions, and though "Bertha" sounds fat, old, butch and nasty to our ears, in France Berthe.

I love the German pronunciation of this name, but in America it just sounds awful! It's so sad that the English language butchers the name Bertha like it does. But in Germany, es ist toll. ;)

Am I the only one that doesn't think this name is that bad, but just really old-fashioned? I mean, sure you'd definitely have to be on something to think that "oh this child looks like a Bertha" but honestly, it's just a name, and a really old-fashioned one at that!

I'm not a huge fan of this name, but I don't hate it either. How about the pronunciation "Bare-tha?"

I have actually begun to like this since my first comment, but only with the German pronunciation. In English, it still sounds old ladyish and ugly.

Bertha has a great meaning but that's about it really. The pronunciation is really dreadful.

Prettiest name ever.

This is one of my all-time favorite girl names, and I was fully 18 before I realized that the general perception of it is very negative. My own perception of it was shaped by two sources: L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, and Barbara Willard's Son of Charlemagne.
-In Anne of Green Gables it is the name of Anne Shirley's mother and she refers to it as a lovely name.
-In Anne of the Island, Bertha Shirley is described as having speaking eyes and writing letters that embodied her charming personality.
-In Rilla of Ingleside, Anne's youngest, Bertha Marilla considers her first name to be beautiful and dignified.
-In the children's book Son of Charlemagne, Bertha is the name of one of Charlemagne's daughters. She is the lovely, sweet, vivacious and adorable one who risks angering her father to marry the man she loves.
Growing up with these positive images of the name, I developed a mental picture of a tall, reed-slim, elegant girl with big, luminous eyes and a Mona Lisa smile.
Even the sound of it is beautiful I think, in either pronunciation, gentle, without any sharp edges. The English pronunciation is like a soft, low sigh, and the German one is just so musical!
I would use this as a middle name for my daughter, so that she doesn't have to suffer from the generally negative view of this name.

I can never hear this name without imagining the word 'Big' before it. I attribute this to Mario Bros.
Big Bertha. Not a fan.