Bartold as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Bartold

What is the meaning of the name Bartold ?

The baby name Bartold is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈbɑr.tɔld/ (BAR-told).

Bartold is in Origin.

Bartold is a Low German and Dutch-influenced form of the Old High German personal name Berthold, built from beraht/berht "bright, illustrious" + waltan "to rule." Its core meaning is "bright ruler" or "illustrious leader." Variant spellings include Barthold, Bartoldt, Berthold, Bertold and Swiss Berchtold; Latinized forms appear as Bartoldus/Bartholdus/Bertoldus. Related cognates are Italian Bertoldo and the literary German Bertolt. Diminutives and short forms include Bartel and Bertl, especially in North German and Alpine usage.

Documented across medieval German-speaking lands, the name occurs in Hanseatic and ecclesiastical records and among nobles such as the Zähringen line (Berchtold). Later bearers include the Hamburg poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680–1747). While uncommon as a given name today, Bartold endures regionally and is more visible in surnames like Barthold or Bartholdi, preserving its venerable Germanic heritage.

⚙ Bartold is an extremely rare name. Across our dataset of national birth registries and international name records, Bartold appears only 3 times in total — found in 3 countries. If you're considering it, you'd be giving your child a name almost nobody else has.