Geralene
Feminine variation of the name Gerard, meaning "brave spear."
Name Census estimates that about 80 living Americans carry the first name Geralene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Geralene today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geralene births was 1946 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geralene. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Geralene is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Geralenes were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Geralene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
80
~ 1 in 4,284,429 Americans
Peak year
1946
13 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1965 SSA rank
#6,039
Tracked since 1922
Census
Geralene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 180 people with the first name Geralene, which placed it at #41,022 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#41,022
National first-name rank
People counted
180
180 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geralene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geralene is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Geralene described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Geralene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.9% · 97
- Black or African American35.6% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 6
- Two or more races2.2% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 3
Popularity
Geralene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geralene from the 1920s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 99 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Geralene 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 Geralene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Geralenes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Geralene
The name Geralene is a relatively modern feminine variation of the masculine name Gerald, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. The root of the name can be traced back to the Old German words "gair" meaning "spear" and "wald" meaning "rule" or "power." Thus, the name Geralene essentially means "ruler with a spear."
Although the name Geralene does not have a long and storied history like many ancient names, it emerged in the early 20th century as a unique and melodic feminine form of the more traditional Gerald. Its rise in popularity coincided with the growing trend of creating feminine variations of masculine names during that time period.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Geralene can be found in the 1920 United States Federal Census, where a handful of individuals were listed with this name. However, it remained relatively uncommon until the mid-20th century when it experienced a modest surge in popularity.
Among the notable individuals who have borne the name Geralene throughout history is Geralene Pratt (1911-2004), an American singer and actress who enjoyed a successful career on Broadway and in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Another notable Geralene was Geralene Williams (1926-2008), a pioneering African American journalist and civil rights activist who worked tirelessly to promote diversity and equality in the media.
In the literary world, Geralene Pearson (1932-2020) was a renowned American author and editor who published numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, including several critically acclaimed novels. Geralene Overell (1941-2018) was a respected Australian artist and sculptor whose works were exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
While not as common as some other names, Geralene has also been borne by several notable athletes and public figures. Geralene Merrill (1957-) was a successful American tennis player who won multiple Grand Slam titles in the 1970s and 1980s. Geralene Griffith (1965-) is a former Canadian track and field athlete who represented her country in multiple Olympic Games and won numerous medals in international competitions.
People
Geralene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geralene 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
Geralene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geralene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 80 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geralene 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 4,284,429 US residents.
Is Geralene a common name?
We classify Geralene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geralene most popular?
The single biggest year for Geralene was 1946, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geralene is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geralene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 180 people with the name Geralene, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,022 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Geralene in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Geralene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geralene leans strongly female. 180 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Geralene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geralene is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Geralene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geralene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (97 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Geralene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geralene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Geralene in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Geralene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geralene in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Geralene can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Geralene?
Want to know how many people share the name Geralene? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.