Berthold History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Austria
France
Germany

Etymology of Berthold

What does the name Berthold mean?

The German state of Prussia, which reached the zenith of its power in the late 19th century, is the glorious birthplace of the distinguished surname Berthold. In the medieval era, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the German lands were inhabited by a variety of Barbarian tribes. The borders of the Barbarian kingdoms changed frequently, but the region that became known as Prussia was roughly divided between the areas of Brandenburg-Prussia, West Prussia, and East Prussia. The colorful history of East Prussia, which was located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and was bordered by Poland and Lithuania, provides a backdrop to the oldest origins of the Berthold family. The origin of the name is Berthold, the "e" later changing to "a" under the influence of the northern dialects.

Early Origins of the Berthold family

The surname Berthold was first found in the lands that would later form Prussia, where one of the first records of the name was Bertulf (or Bartholf or Barthold) who died in 883, and was the Archbishop of Trier from 869 until his death.

Early History of the Berthold family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Berthold research. Another 133 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1701, 1712 and 1804 are included under the topic Early Berthold History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Berthold Spelling Variations

In the medieval era, many different cultural groups lived in the German states. There are thus many regional variations of German surnames from that era. Westphalians spoke Low German, which is similar to modern Dutch. Many German names carry suffixes that identify where they came from. Others have phrases attached that identify something about the original bearer. Other variations in German names resulted from the fact that medieval scribes worked without the aid of any spelling rules. The spelling variations of the name Berthold include Barthold, Bartholde,Bartholdi, Barthold, Bartholdt, Bartoldi, Berthold, Bartholdy, Bartholdi, Bartholdie, Bartoldy, Bartholdy, Bartolo, Bartheld and many more.

Early Notables of the Berthold family

Another 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Berthold Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Berthold Ranking

In the United States, the name Berthold is the 16,633^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Berthold migration to the United States +

Since medieval times, the state of Prussia has played an important part in the history of Germany. The state's military powers were historically very strong, and endured until after the Second World War, when the territory was broken up and divided between the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany and West Germany. A spurt of migration followed, with some Prussians going elsewhere in Europe and many others crossing the ocean to North America. Most entered the United States through Philadelphia. Some remained there, while more moved on to the states of Ohio, Texas, Illinois, California, New York, and Maryland. Others traveled to Canada and settled Ontario and the prairie provinces. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Berthold or a variant listed above:

Berthold Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Gebhart Berthold, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1752 2
Johann Georg Berthold, who arrived in America in 1781 2

Berthold Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Genovefa Berthold, who arrived in Venezuela in 1842 2
Lieut Berthold, aged 25, who landed in Texas in 1845 aboard the ship "Washington" 2
Mr. Louis Berthold, aged 25, German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1845 aboard the ship "Washington"
Daniel Berthold, who arrived in Somerset County, Pennsylvania in 1850 2
Peter Berthold, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1876 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Berthold (post 1700) +

Richard Berthold (b. 1946), American former professor of history at the University of New Mexico
Thomas Berthold (b. 1964), German former footballer and manager
Rudolph Berthold (1891-1920), German WWI flying ace of World War I credited with 44 aerial victories
Arnold Adolph Berthold (1803-1861), German physiologist and zoologist, a pioneer in endocrinology
David Berthold, Australian theatre director, current Artistic Director of Brisbane Festival
Avgust Berthold (1880-1919), Slovene photographer associated with the Impressionist movement
Henry Berthold Mann (1905-2000), American mathematician awarded the Cole Prize for Number Theory in 1946
Berthold Adolph Benecke (1843-1886), German anatomist and embryologist
Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990), Russian/British architect
Berthold Tours (1838-1897), British musician and musical editor, whose baptismal name was Bartolomeus was son of Bartolomeus Tours, organist of the church of St. Lawrence, Rotterdam

Historic Events for the Berthold family +

Bismarck

Herbert Berthold (1920-1941), German Matrosenobergefreiter who served aboard the German Battleship Bismarck during World War II when it was sunk heading to France; he died in the sinking 3

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Bismarck & Tirpitz Class - Crew List Bismarck. (Retrieved 2018, February 06). Retrieved from https://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/crew/bismarck_crew.html#crew_details