Gerardine
A feminine given name derived from the Germanic name Gerard, meaning "brave spear".
Name Census estimates that about 98 living Americans carry the first name Gerardine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gerardine today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerardine births was 1950 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerardine. 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 Gerardine is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gerardines were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gerardine. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
98
~ 1 in 3,497,493 Americans
Peak year
1950
14 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1989 SSA rank
#11,312
Tracked since 1930
Popularity
Gerardine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerardine from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 81 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
Gerardine 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 Gerardine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerardines live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerardine
The name Gerardine is a feminine form of the name Gerard, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. It is derived from the Germanic elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy". The name essentially means "brave with a spear" or "strong with a spear".
In its early usage, the name Gerard was popular among the Franks, a Germanic tribe that settled in the region that is now modern-day France and parts of Germany. From the 6th century onwards, the name became widely used in Christian Europe, particularly in France, Germany, and the Low Countries.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Gerard can be found in the writings of the Venerable Bede, an English monk and scholar who lived in the 7th and 8th centuries. He mentioned a saint named Gerard who was a bishop of Toul in the late 6th century.
The feminine form Gerardine emerged in the Middle Ages, although its usage was initially quite rare. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gerardine dates back to the 12th century, when a noblewoman named Gerardine de Lautrec was mentioned in historical records from the south of France.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Gerardine. These include Gerardine of Provence (1210-1292), a Franciscan nun and mystic who was venerated as a saint; Gerardine Naish (1725-1803), an English poet and writer; Gerardine Hawthorne (1830-1864), an American writer and sister of the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne; Gerardine Musgrave (1859-1949), an English suffragette and activist; and Gerardine Botte (1891-1983), a French actress known for her work in silent films.
Despite its historical origins and usage, the name Gerardine has never been extremely common or popular. It has remained a relatively rare name throughout its history, though it continues to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in regions with strong French or Germanic cultural influences.
People
Gerardine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerardine 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
Gerardine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerardine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 98 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerardine 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 3,497,493 US residents.
Is Gerardine a common name?
We classify Gerardine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 154 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerardine most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerardine was 1950, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerardine is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gerardine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gerardine 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.
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.