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 , following the French phonetics ; the German one is , anglicized as . Notable people with this surname include:

Politics

• Charles W. Berger (1936–2016), American politician

• Gianna Berger (born 1999), Swiss politician

• James S. Berger (1903–1984), American politician

• Jan Johannis Adriaan Berger (1918–1978), Dutch politician

• Józef Berger (1901–1962), Polish theologian and politician

• Karine Berger (born 1973), French politician

• Laurent Berger (born 1968), French trade unionist

• Lieselotte Berger (1920–1989), German politician

• Luciana Berger (born 1981), British Liberal Democrat politician

• Maria Berger (born 1956), Austrian politician

• Markus Berger (1913–1988), German politician

• Mateusz Berger (born 1986), Polish politician

• Matthias Berger (born 1968), German politician

• Melanie Berger (born 1982), German politician

• Mónica Nágel Berger (born 1960), Costa Rican politician and lawyer

• 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

• Ulrich Berger (1921–2003), German 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 (19441972), 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

• Jalen Berger (born 2001), American football player

• Jan Berger (born 1976), Czech-Swiss football player

• Jay Berger (born 1966), American tennis player

• Johann Berger (18451933), 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 (19001992), 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

• Tore Berger (1944–2026), Norwegian sprint canoeist

• Wally Berger (1905–1988), American baseball player

Music

• Arthur Berger (1912–2003), American composer

• Bengt Berger (1942–2026), Swedish jazz drummer, composer, and producer

• 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 (born 1964), American makeup artist

• John Berger (1926–2017), British art critic, novelist, painter, and author

• Jonah Berger (born c. 1981), 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

• Helen A. Berger (born 1949), American sociologist

• 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

• Paul R. Berger (born 1963), American engineer

• 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

See also

• Birger

• Bürger

• Burger (disambiguation)

• Burger (surname)

• Burgers (surname)

• Burgher (disambiguation)

• Litzenberger (surname)