Geralynn
Combination of Germanic name elements meaning "spear" and "pure, gentle".
Name Census estimates that about 355 living Americans carry the first name Geralynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Geralynn today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geralynn births was 1959 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geralynn. 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
355
~ 1 in 965,505 Americans
Peak year
1959
32 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2013 SSA rank
#17,472
Tracked since 1942
Census
Geralynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 508 people with the first name Geralynn, which placed it at #20,360 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
#20,360
National first-name rank
People counted
508
508 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geralynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geralynn is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Geralynn 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 Geralynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.2% · 387
- Black or African American11.6% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 11
- Two or more races1.2% · 6
Popularity
Geralynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geralynn from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 193 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Geralynn 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 Geralynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Geralynns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Michigan, Illinois recorded the most babies named Geralynn, while New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Geralynn
The name Geralynn is a feminine form of the masculine name Gerald, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. The name is derived from the elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "wald" meaning "rule" or "power." Together, these elements create a meaning of "ruler with a spear" or "strong with a spear."
The name Gerald first appeared in the 8th century and was popular among the Franks, a Germanic tribe that settled in modern-day France and parts of Germany. It was later adopted by the Normans, who brought the name to England after the Norman Conquest in 1066.
The feminine form, Geralynn, emerged in the 20th century as a combination of the traditional Gerald and the common feminine suffix "-lynn." While the name has no known direct historical references, it shares its roots with the masculine form, which was borne by several notable figures throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gerald was Gerald of Aurillac, a French nobleman and saint who lived from 855 to 909 AD. Another notable bearer was Gerald of Wales, a 12th-century chronicler and archdeacon who wrote extensively about the Welsh people and their customs.
In the 13th century, Gerald de Barri, also known as Giraldus Cambrensis, was a renowned Welsh clergyman and writer who authored works on the history and topography of Ireland and Wales.
During the 15th century, Gerald FitzGerald, the 8th Earl of Kildare, was a prominent Irish statesman and military leader who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland.
In more recent times, Gerald Ford, born in 1913, became the 38th President of the United States after succeeding Richard Nixon in 1974.
While the feminine form Geralynn has a shorter history, it has been borne by several notable individuals, including Geralynn Eiseman, an American color expert and author, and Geralynn Hewitt, a Canadian actress known for her roles in television series such as "Da Vinci's Inquest" and "Regenesis."
People
Geralynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geralynn 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
Geralynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geralynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 355 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geralynn 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 965,505 US residents.
Is Geralynn a common name?
We classify Geralynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 455 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geralynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Geralynn was 1959, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geralynn is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geralynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 508 people with the name Geralynn, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,360 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 Geralynn 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 Geralynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geralynn appears almost entirely female. Of the 510 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Geralynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geralynn is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Geralynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geralynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (387 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 Geralynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geralynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Geralynn 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 Geralynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geralynn 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 Geralynn 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 common is the name Geralynn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.