Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German berhta meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names Beorhtgifu meaning "bright gift" or Beorhtwynn meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, surviving as Berchta, a figure in Alpine folklore connected to the Wild Hunt, probably an epithet of *Frijjō in origin. Bertha appears as a Frankish given name from as early as the 6th century. The monothematic Bertha as a given name may, however, not originate with the theonym but rather as a short form of dithematic given names including the "bright" element. This is notably the case with the mother of Charlemagne, Bertrada (properly berht-rada "bright counsel") called "Bertha Broadfoot." Carolingian uses of the name Bertha, as in the case of Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne and Bertha, daughter of Lothair II, are in this tradition. In modern times, the name is associated with an unusually large example of a class of objects. Many large machines are nicknamed Bertha for the World War I howitzer known as Big Bertha. Women named Bertha include: Saint Bertha of Kent (539 – c. 612), Queen of Kent Saint Bertha of Val d'Or (d. c. 690), abbess Saint Bertha of Artois (mid-7th century – 4 July 725), abbess, daughter of Count Rigobert and Ursana Bertrada of Laon (also called Bertha with the big feet) (720–783), Frankish queen Saint Bertha of Bingen (fl. c. 757), mother of Saint Rupert of Bingen Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne (c. 780 – after 11 March 824) Bertha, daughter of Lothair II (863–925) Blessed Bertha de Bardi, Florence; (died 24 March 1163) Bertha, Duchess of Brittany (c. 1114 – 1156) Bertha of Burgundy (952, 964 or 967 – 1010, 16 January 1016, or 1035), queen of France Bertha of Hereford (born c. 1130), heiress Bertha of Holland (c. 1055 – 1093), queen of France Bertha of Putelendorf (died 1190), Saxon noble Bertha of Savoy (1051–1087) Bertha of Sulzbach (1110–1159), Byzantine empress Bertha of Swabia (c. 907 – 966), queen of Burgundy Bertha of Val d'Or (died c. 690), a Christian saint Bertha Benz (1849–1944), wife of automobile inventor Karl Benz and the first person in history to drive an automobile over long distance. Bertha Southey Brammall (1878–1957), Australian writer Bertha Brainard (1890–1946), pioneering television executive Bertha Coombs (born 1961), reporter Bertha Díaz (born 1936), Cuban track and field athlete Bertha Fowler (1866-1952),