Family name origins & meanings
- German, Danish, and Swedish : from the Germanic personal name Ber(n)wald, composed of the elements ber(n) ‘bear’ + wald ‘ruler’ but altered by folk etymology as if from German Bär ‘bear’ + Wald ‘forest’.
- German : in some cases, a habitational name from a place called Bärwalde or Beerwalde, of which there are several examples in eastern Germany.