# Berger

Berger is a surname in both German and French, 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 /ˈbɜːrdʒər/ BUR-jər, following the French phonetics ; the German one is , anglicized as /ˈbɜːrɡər/ BUR-gər. Notable people with this surname include:

## Politics

* Charles W. Berger (born 1936), American politician
* James S. Berger (1903–1984), American politician
* Jan Johannis Adriaan Berger, Dutch politician
* Józef Berger (1901–1962), Polish theologian and politician
* Karine Berger (born 1973), French politician
* Laurent Berger (born 1968), French trade unionist
* Luciana Berger (born 1981), British Liberal Democrat politician
* Maria Berger (born 1956), Austrian politician
* Mateusz Berger (born 1986), Polish politician
* Matthias Berger (born 1968), German politician
* Óscar Berger (born 1946), President of Guatemala
* Ossian Berger (1849–1914), Swedish politician and lawyer
* Phil Berger (born 1952), American politician
* Samuel D. Berger (1911–1980), American diplomat
* Sandy Berger (1945–2015), American attorney and politician
* Thomas R. Berger (1933–2021), Canadian politician
* Tina Berger (born 1981), Austrian politician
* Victor L. Berger (1860–1929), American politician

## Sports

* Alfred Berger (1894–1966), Austrian pair skater
* Andrea Berger (born 1970), American tennis player
* Andreas Berger (athlete) (born 1961), Austrian sprinter
* Ann-Katrin Berger (born 1990), German football goalkeeper
* Barbara Berger (1930–2016), American baseball player
* Chris Berger (1911–1965), Dutch sprinter
* Daniel Berger (born 1993), American golfer
* David Mark Berger (1944–1972), Israeli weightlifter; one of 11 hostages murdered in the Munich massacre
* Frederick Berger (1849–?), American baseball umpire
* Gerhard Berger (born 1959), Austrian racing driver
* Grace Berger (born 1999), American basketball player
* Guylaine Berger (born 1956), French swimmer
* Han Berger (born 1950), Dutch football coach
* Ike Berger (1936–2022), American weightlifter
* Ilana Berger (born 1965), Israeli tennis player
* Jan Berger (born 1976), Czech-Swiss football player
* Jay Berger (born 1966), American tennis player
* Johann Berger (1845–1933), Austrian chess master, theorist, endgame study composer, author and editor
* Lars Berger (born 1979), Norwegian biathlete
* Mark Berger (born 1954), Canadian judoka
* Maxie Berger (1917–2000), Canadian boxer
* Norma Berger (1932–2023), American baseball player, sister of Barbara
* Ola Berger (born 1979), Norwegian ski mountaineer and cross-country skier
* Olia Berger (born 1983), Canadian judoka
* Patrik Berger (born 1973), Czech football player
* Ruud Berger (born 1980), Dutch football player
* Sam Berger (1900–1992), Canadian football team owner
* Samuel Berger (1884–1925), American boxer
* Ségolène Berger (born 1978), French tennis player
* Steve Berger (born 1973), American mixed martial artist
* Tora Berger (born 1981), Norwegian biathlete, sister of Lars
* Wally Berger (1905–1988), American baseball player

## Music

* Arthur Berger (1912–2003), American composer
* Christian Wilhelm Berger (born 1964), Romanian composer and musician
* Dominique II Berger (1780–1845), Flemish organist and carillonneur
* Erna Berger (1900–1990), German soprano singer
* Henri Berger (1844–1929), Hawaiian musician
* Karl Berger (1935–2023), German jazz musician and educator
* Ludwig Berger (composer) (1777–1839), German composer and piano teacher
* Margaret Berger (born 1985), Norwegian singer, songwriter, and disc jockey
* Michel Berger (1947–1992), French singer and songwriter
* Wilhelm Berger (1861–1911), German composer
* Wilhelm Georg Berger (1929–1993), Romanian composer
* Wilhelm Peterson Berger (1867–1942), Swedish musician

## Culture

* Alex Berger, (born 1962), American producer, creator, consultant and entrepreneur
* Charlotta Berger (1784–1852), Swedish poet and novelist
* Edward Berger (born 1970), Austrian-Swiss director
* Élie Berger (1850–1925), French archivist and palaeographer
* Erika Berger (1939–2016), German television presenter and writer
* Georgette Berger (1901–1986), Belgian wife of the painter René Magritte
* Helmut Berger (1944–2023), Austrian actor
* Howard Berger, American make-up artist
* John Berger (1926–2017), British art critic, novelist, painter, and author
* Jonah Berger, American writer and professor
* Karen Berger (born 1958), American comic book editor
* Katya Berger (born 1966) (sometimes credited as Katia Berger or Katja Berger), British actress
* Marco Berger (born 1977), Argentine film director and screenwriter
* Maurice Berger (1956–2020) American cultural historian, curator, and critic
* Nicole Berger (born Nicole Gouspeyre, 1934–1967), French actress
* Nicole Berger (American actress) (born 2003), American actress, model, and pianist
* Oscar Berger (cartoonist) (1901–1997), Slovak cartoonist
* Pablo Berger (born 1963), Spanish film director
* Petra Berger (born Petra Pierrette Burger, 1965), Dutch singer, composer, photographer, and actress
* Robert Berger (producer) (born 1934), American film producer
* Senta Berger (born 1941), Austrian actress
* Thomas Berger (novelist) (1924–2014), American novelist
* Wiesław Adam Berger (1926–1998), Polish writer
* William Berger (actor)(1928–1993), Austrian-American actor
* Yves Berger (1931–2004), French writer and editor

## Academics

* Alwin Berger (1871–1931), German botanist
* André Berger (born 1942), Belgian climatologist
* Beverly Berger, American physicist
* Hans Berger (1873–1941), German neuroscientist
* Harriet Berger (died 2012), American political scientist
* James Berger (statistician) (born 1950), American statistician
* Jeffrey W. Berger (1963–2001), American physician and engineer
* Jerry Berger (1933–2021), American journalist
* Johann Gottfried von Berger (1659–1736), German physician
* Josef Berger (scientist) (born 1949), Czech biomedical engineer and haematologist
* Lee R. Berger (born 1965), American-born South African explorer and paleoanthropologist
* Leszek Berger (1925–2012), Polish herpetologist and malacologist
* Marcel Berger (1927–2016), French mathematician
* Peter B. Berger (born 1956), American cardiologist
* Peter L. Berger (1929–2017), Austrian-born American sociologist and theologian
* Richard Berger (1894–1984), Swiss professor of design, decoration, and art history
* Robert Berger (mathematician) (born 1938), American mathematician
* Wolfgang H. Berger (1937–2017), German-American oceanographer

## Other professions

* Carolyn Berger, American judge
* Daniel Berger (engraver) (1744–1825), German engraver
* David Berger (theologian) (born 1968), German theologian
* Gaston Berger (1896–1960), French futurist, industrialist, philosopher and state manager
* Georges Berger (1918–1967), Belgian racing driver
* Gottlob Berger (1896–1975), German Schutzstaffel (SS) general
* Irene Berger (born 1954), American judge
* Josef Berger (speechwriter) (1903–1981), American journalist, accused of being a Soviet spy
* Patricia Wilson Berger (1926–2011), American librarian
* Roland Berger (born 1937), German entrepreneur and philanthropist
* Roza Berger (1889–1945), 1945 Kraków pogrom victim
* Theo Berger (1941–2003), German criminal

## Fictional

* Erika Berger from the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson