Ger
A warrior or spearman in Germanic languages.
Name Census estimates that about 457 living Americans carry the first name Ger. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Ger today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ger births was 1991 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ger. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
457
~ 1 in 750,009 Americans
Peak year
1991
38 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2006 SSA rank
#9,916
Tracked since 1980
Gender
Gender distribution for Ger
Ger leans heavily male at 81.4% of total registrations, but 88 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ger as a male name
- Ranked #9,916 in 2006
- 7 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1991 (33 births)
Ger as a female name
- Ranked #12,629 in 1997
- 6 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1992 (13 births)
Popularity
Ger: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ger from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 269 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ger by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ger during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Ger, while Wisconsin, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 93 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ger
The name Ger originates from the Old German language, where it was a short form of names like Gerhard or Gerwin. These names were derived from the Germanic elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "hard" or "win" meaning "friend" or "protector." The name Ger can therefore be interpreted as meaning "spear protector" or "spear friend."
Ger was a common name among the early Germanic tribes of central and northern Europe, particularly during the Migration Period of the 4th to 6th centuries AD. It was widely used by the Franks, Saxons, and other groups that settled across what is now Germany, France, and the Low Countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ger can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the Rhineland region of Germany. In a charter dated 778 AD, a man named Ger is listed as a witness to a land transaction.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Ger remained popular among the nobility and commoners alike across Germanic-speaking regions of Europe. Notable historical figures who bore this name include Ger of Oudenaarde, a Flemish knight who fought in the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302.
In the 16th century, Ger Groote (1340-1384) was a Dutch Catholic deacon and the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life, a religious community dedicated to spiritual renewal and education. His followers, known as the Devotio Moderna, had a significant influence on the intellectual and cultural life of the Low Countries.
Another prominent figure was Ger Thooft (1542-1597), a Dutch Catholic priest and theologian who became the Bishop of Leeuwarden. He played a crucial role in the religious conflicts that erupted during the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule.
In more recent history, Ger van Elk (1903-1998) was a Dutch painter and graphic artist who was part of the Amsterdam Impressionist movement. His vibrant landscapes and cityscapes are highly regarded and can be found in numerous museum collections.
While the name Ger has fallen out of common usage in many parts of Europe, it remains a recognizable name with deep historical roots in the Germanic cultural tradition.
People
Ger + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ger as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ger: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ger?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 457 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ger going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 750,009 US residents.
Is Ger a common name?
We classify Ger as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 473 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ger most popular?
The single biggest year for Ger was 1991, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ger is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ger a male name?
Yes, 81.4% of people registered as Ger in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.