Bertolt

Bertolt is a German given name derived from the Old High German elements beraht, meaning bright or famous, and walt, meaning rule or power, giving the name the combined sense of bright ruler. It is a variant form of Berthold, which shares the same Germanic roots and was common among medieval German nobility and clergy. The name is most widely associated in modern times with the German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht, whose influential twentieth-century theatrical work brought international recognition to the name. Berthold and Bertold are the more frequently encountered cognate forms.