Geriann
A feminine French name possibly derived from the Germanic "Ger" meaning "spear".
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Geriann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Geriann today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geriann births was 1963 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geriann. 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
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
1963
20 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1983 SSA rank
#9,414
Tracked since 1951
Census
Geriann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 307 people with the first name Geriann, which placed it at #29,019 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
#29,019
National first-name rank
People counted
307
307 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geriann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geriann is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.2%). 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 Geriann 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 Geriann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 266
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 13
- Two or more races1.6% · 5
- Black or African American1.3% · 4
Popularity
Geriann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geriann from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 116 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Geriann 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 Geriann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerianns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Geriann
The given name Geriann is a modern variation of the Germanic name Gertrude, which derives from the Old German words "ger" meaning "spear" and "trude" meaning "strength." The name Gertrude was popular among European nobility during the Middle Ages and has roots in the ancient Teutonic tribes of central Europe.
In the 7th century, a St. Gertrude of Nivelles was a Benedictine nun and abbess who founded several monasteries in what is now Belgium. Her name and legacy helped popularize Gertrude throughout medieval Europe. Another notable bearer was St. Gertrude the Great, a 13th-century German mystic and theologian known for her spiritual visions and writings on divine love.
The first recorded instance of the variant spelling Geriann dates back to the late 19th century in the United States. It likely emerged as an Americanized form of the traditional Gertrude, reflecting the preference for shorter and more unique names at the time.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Geriann was Geriann Hitch, an American author born in 1883 who wrote several books on etiquette and social graces. Another notable figure was Geriann Beecher (1914-2003), a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her abstract works and contributions to the modern art movement in Montreal.
In the world of entertainment, Geriann Raphael (1934-2021) was an American actress and singer who appeared on Broadway and in several films and television shows throughout the 1960s and 70s. Geriann Strehlow (born 1950) is a former American model and actress who had a recurring role in the popular TV series "The Rockford Files."
Finally, Geriann Brewer (born 1965) is a British lawyer and legal scholar who has served as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights since 2015, making significant contributions to international human rights law.
People
Geriann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geriann 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
Geriann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geriann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geriann 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Geriann a common name?
We classify Geriann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 206 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geriann most popular?
The single biggest year for Geriann was 1963, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geriann is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geriann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 307 people with the name Geriann, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,019 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 Geriann 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 Geriann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geriann appears almost entirely female. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Geriann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geriann is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.2%). 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 Geriann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geriann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (266 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 Geriann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geriann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Geriann 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 Geriann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geriann 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 Geriann 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 called Geriann?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.