Bertie

Recorded as Bertie and Bertin, this is an English surname, but one of French origins. It was probably introduced into England by the Norman-French invaders of 1066, and seemingly has an indirect association with the pre 7th century Germanic personal names Albert, Gilbert, or Herbert. These were introduced by the Anglo-Saxons into England from about the 5th century. According to Canon Charles Bardsley, the world famous Victorian etymologist writing in 1880, this surname originates from a French diminutive name Bertin, which may itself have been from Bertram or Bert. Bertram translates as "Bright-raven" an interesting example of a pre Christian European personal name where, as with modern double-barrelled surnames, two usually totally disimilar words are partly fused to provide a unique name. Certainly the name as Bertin is a first recorded in England as early as the year 1273, when Bertin de Burgo is so recorded in the Hundred Rolls of the county of Shropshire in the year 1273. The personal name as Bertie or Berty is both rarer and possibly later, with Berty Fleschar being recorded in Northumberland in 1541, whilst an early surname recording is that of Lucy Bertie, who married a William Dade in London in 1578.