Norbert

Meaning of Norbert

Norbert is a masculine given name of Old High German origin, deriving from the compound elements nord (“north”) and berht (“bright”), and historically gaining ecclesiastical prominence through its association with the twelfth-century reformer St. Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premonstratensian order. In modern linguistic practice, the name exhibits two principal pronunciations—German /ˈnoːʁ.bɛrt/ and English /ˈnɔr.bərt/—each reflecting the phonological conventions of its respective speech community. Quantitative analysis of United States Social Security Administration data reveals that Norbert attained its apex in the mid-twentieth century, with annual registrations surpassing one hundred and a peak rank near five hundred circa the 1960s, before undergoing a gradual diminution to fourteen occurrences in 2024 and a corresponding rank of 910. This protracted trajectory, characterized by intermittent fluctuations rather than abrupt declines, underscores the name’s enduring, if specialized, position within Anglo-American onomastic practice. Its historical resonance and connotations of leadership and luminosity—coupled with a linguistic heritage rooted in northern European tradition—continue to inform its selection by parents seeking a name of both historical depth and refined continental character.