Berger is a surname in both German language and French language, although there is no etymological connection between the names in the two languages. The French surname is an occupational name for a shepherd, from Old French bergier (Late Latin berbicarius, from berbex 'ram'). The German surname derives from the word Berg, the word for "mountain" or "hill", and means "a resident on a mountain or hill", or someone from a toponym Berg, derived from the same. The pronunciation of the English name may sometimes be , following the French phonetics
- the German one is , anglicized as . Notable people with this surname include
Politics
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Charles W. Berger (1936–2016), American politician
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Gianna Berger (born 1999), Swiss politician
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James S. Berger (1903–1984), American politician
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Jan Johannis Adriaan Berger, Dutch politician
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Józef Berger (1901–1962), Polish theologian and politician
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Karine Berger (born 1973), French politician
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Laurent Berger (born 1968), French trade unionist
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Lieselotte Berger (1920–1989), German politician
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Luciana Berger (born 1981), British Liberal Democrat politician
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Maria Berger (born 1956), Austrian politician
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Markus Berger (1913–1988), German politician
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Mateusz Berger (born 1986), Polish politician
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Matthias Berger (born 1968), German politician
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Óscar Berger (born 1946), President of Guatemala
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Ossian Berger (1849–1914), Swedish politician and lawyer
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Phil Berger (born 1952), American politician
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Samuel D. Berger (1911–1980), American diplomat
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Sandy Berger (1945–2015), American attorney and politician
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Thomas R. Berger (1933–2021), Canadian politician
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Tina Berger (born 1981), Austrian politician
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Ulrich Berger (1921–2003), German politician
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Victor L. Berger (1860–1929), American politician
Sports
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Alfred Berger (1894–1966), Austrian pair skater
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Andrea Berger (born 1970), American tennis player
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Andreas Berger (athlete) (born 1961), Austrian sprinter
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Ann-Katrin Berger (born 1990), German football goalkeeper
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Barbara Berger (1930–2016), American baseball player
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Chris Berger (1911–1965), Dutch sprinter
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Daniel Berger (born 1993), American golfer
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David Mark Berger (1944–1972), Israeli weightlifter; one of 11 hostages murdered in the Munich massacre
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Frederick Berger (1849–?), American baseball umpire
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Gerhard Berger (born 1959), Austrian racing driver
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Grace Berger (born 1999), American basketball player
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Guylaine Berger (born 1956), French swimmer
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Han Berger (born 1950), Dutch football coach
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Ike Berger (1936–2022), American weightlifter
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Ilana Berger (born 1965), Israeli tennis player
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Jan Berger (born 1976), Czech-Swiss football player
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Jay Berger (born 1966), American tennis player
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Johann Berger (1845–1933), Austrian chess master, theorist, endgame study composer, author and editor
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Lars Berger (born 1979), Norwegian biathlete
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Mark Berger (born 1954), Canadian judoka
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Maxie Berger (1917–2000), Canadian boxer
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Norma Berger (1932–2023), American baseball player, sister of Barbara
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Ola Berger (born 1979), Norwegian ski mountaineer and cross-country skier
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Olia Berger (born 1983), Canadian judoka
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Patrik Berger (born 1973), Czech football player
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Ruud Berger (born 1980), Dutch football player
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Sam Berger (1900–1992), Canadian football team owner
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Samuel Berger (1884–1925), American boxer
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Ségolène Berger (born 1978), French tennis player
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Steve Berger (born 1973), American mixed martial artist
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Tora Berger (born 1981), Norwegian biathlete, sister of Lars
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Wally Berger (1905–1988), American baseball player
Music
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Arthur Berger (1912–2003), American composer
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Christian Wilhelm Berger (born 1964), Romanian composer and musician
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Dominique II Berger (1780–1845), Flemish organist and carillonneur
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Erna Berger (1900–1990), German soprano singer
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Henri Berger (1844–1929), Hawaiian musician
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Karl Berger (1935–2023), German jazz musician and educator
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Ludwig Berger (composer) (1777–1839), German composer and piano teacher
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Margaret Berger (born 1985), Norwegian singer, songwriter, and disc jockey
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Michel Berger (1947–1992), French singer and songwriter
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Wilhelm Berger (1861–1911), German composer
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Wilhelm Georg Berger (1929–1993), Romanian composer
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Wilhelm Peterson Berger (1867–1942), Swedish musician
Culture
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Alex Berger, (born 1962), American producer, creator, consultant and entrepreneur
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Charlotta Berger (1784–1852), Swedish poet and novelist
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Edward Berger (born 1970), Austrian-Swiss director
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Élie Berger (1850–1925), French archivist and palaeographer
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Erika Berger (1939–2016), German television presenter and writer
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Georgette Berger (1901–1986), Belgian wife of the painter René Magritte
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Helmut Berger (1944–2023), Austrian actor
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Howard Berger, American make-up artist
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John Berger (1926–2017), British art critic, novelist, painter, and author
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Jonah Berger, American writer and professor
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Karen Berger (born 1958), American comic book editor
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Katya Berger (born 1966) (sometimes credited as Katia Berger or Katja Berger), British actress
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Marco Berger (born 1977), Argentine film director and screenwriter
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Maurice Berger (1956–2020) American cultural historian, curator, and critic
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Nicole Berger (born Nicole Gouspeyre, 1934–1967), French actress
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Nicole Berger (American actress) (born 2003), American actress, model, and pianist
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Oscar Berger (cartoonist) (1901–1997), Slovak cartoonist
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Pablo Berger (born 1963), Spanish film director
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Petra Berger (born Petra Pierrette Burger, 1965), Dutch singer, composer, photographer, and actress
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Robert Berger (producer) (born 1934), American film producer
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Senta Berger (born 1941), Austrian actress
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Thomas Berger (novelist) (1924–2014), American novelist
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Wiesław Adam Berger (1926–1998), Polish writer
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William Berger (actor)(1928–1993), Austrian-American actor
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Yves Berger (1931–2004), French writer and editor
Academics
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Alwin Berger (1871–1931), German botanist
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André Berger (born 1942), Belgian climatologist
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Beverly Berger, American physicist
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Hans Berger (1873–1941), German neuroscientist
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Harriet Berger (died 2012), American political scientist
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James Berger (statistician) (born 1950), American statistician
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Jeffrey W. Berger (1963–2001), American physician and engineer
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Jerry Berger (1933–2021), American journalist
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Johann Gottfried von Berger (1659–1736), German physician
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Josef Berger (scientist) (born 1949), Czech biomedical engineer and haematologist
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Lee R. Berger (born 1965), American-born South African explorer and paleoanthropologist
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Leszek Berger (1925–2012), Polish herpetologist and malacologist
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Marcel Berger (1927–2016), French mathematician
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Peter B. Berger (born 1956), American cardiologist
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Peter L. Berger (1929–2017), Austrian-born American sociologist and theologian
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Richard Berger (1894–1984), Swiss professor of design, decoration, and art history
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Robert Berger (mathematician) (born 1938), American mathematician
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Wolfgang H. Berger (1937–2017), German-American oceanographer
Other professions
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Carolyn Berger, American judge
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Daniel Berger (engraver) (1744–1825), German engraver
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David Berger (theologian) (born 1968), German theologian
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Gaston Berger (1896–1960), French futurist, industrialist, philosopher and state manager
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Georges Berger (1918–1967), Belgian racing driver
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Gottlob Berger (1896–1975), German Schutzstaffel (SS) general
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Irene Berger (born 1954), American judge
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Josef Berger (speechwriter) (1903–1981), American journalist, accused of being a Soviet spy
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Patricia Wilson Berger (1926–2011), American librarian
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Roland Berger (born 1937), German entrepreneur and philanthropist
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Roza Berger (1889–1945), 1945 Kraków pogrom victim
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Theo Berger (1941–2003), German criminal
Fictional
See also
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Birger
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Bürger
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Burger (disambiguation)
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Burger (surname)
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Burgers (surname)
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Burgher (disambiguation)