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 French pronunciation: [bɛʁ.ʒe] (the German is /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 Labour Party 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
• Óscar Berger (born 1946), former President of Guatemala
• Ossian Berger (1849–1914), Swedish politician and lawyer
• Phil Berger (born 1952), American politician
• Samuel D. Berger (1911–1980), US Ambassador
• Sandy Berger (1945–2015), American attorney and politician
• Thomas R. Berger (1933–2021), Canadian 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 track and field sprinter
• Ann-Katrin Berger (born 1990), German football goalkeeper
• Barbara Berger (1930–2016), All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
• Chris Berger (1911–1965), Dutch sprinter
• Daniel Berger (born 1993), American professional PGA Tour golfer
• David Mark Berger (1944–1972), American-born Israeli weightlifter; Maccabiah champion (middleweight); one of the 11 hostages murdered in the Munich massacre
• Frederick Berger (1849-?), American professional baseball umpire
• Gerhard Berger (born 1959), Austrian Grand Prix 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), US Olympic weightlifter (featherweight)
• Ilana Berger (born 1965), Israeli tennis player
• Jan Berger (born 1976), Czech-Swiss football midfielder
• 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 Olympic silver & bronze (judo heavyweight)
• Maxie Berger (1917–2000), Canadian world champion junior welterweight boxer
• Norma Berger (1932–2023), All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player and sister of Barbara Berger
• Ola Berger (born 1979), Norwegian ski mountaineer and cross-country skier
• Olia Berger (born 1983), Canadian judoka
• Patrik Berger (born 1973), Czech football midfielder
• Ruud Berger (born 1980), Dutch football midfielder
• Sam Berger (1900–1992), Canadian football team owner
• Samuel Berger (1884–1925), US Olympic champion heavyweight boxer
• Ségolène Berger (born 1978), professional tennis player from France.
• Steve Berger (born 1973), American mixed martial artist
• Tora Berger (born 1981), Norwegian biathlete and sister of Lars Berger
• Wally Berger (1905–1988), Boston Braves slugger of the 1930s

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 in the media field
• Charlotta Berger (1784–1852), Swedish poet and novelist
• 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 film 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 classical crossover singer, composer, photographer, and musical 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), also known as Bill Berger and Wilhelm Berger, born Wilhelm Thomas Berger (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 State (Delaware) Supreme Court justice
• 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 Grand Prix racing driver
• Gottlob Berger (1896–1975), German Schutzstaffel (SS) general
• Irene Berger (born 1954), United States District 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, philanthropist, and founder of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
• Roza Berger (1889–1945), 1945 Kraków pogrom victim
• Theo Berger (1941–2003), German criminal

Fictional

• Erika Berger from the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson