Gerldine
Of Old German origin, meaning "mighty with the spear" or "brave".
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the first name Gerldine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gerldine today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerldine births was 1933 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerldine. 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 Gerldine is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gerldines were born before 1958.
People living today
133
~ 1 in 2,577,100 Americans
Peak year
1933
23 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1969 SSA rank
#7,855
Tracked since 1915
Census
Gerldine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 206 people with the first name Gerldine, which placed it at #37,688 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
#37,688
National first-name rank
People counted
206
206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerldine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerldine is White at 56.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Gerldine 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 Gerldine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.8% · 117
- Black or African American32.5% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
- Two or more races1.0% · 2
Popularity
Gerldine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerldine from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 140 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gerldine 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 Gerldine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerldines live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerldine
The name Gerldine is a variant of the feminine given name Gerlinda, which originated from the Germanic languages. The name is derived from the Old German elements "geri" meaning spear and "lind" meaning soft or tender. Together, these elements form the meaning "soft with a spear" or "tender warrior."
In the early Middle Ages, the name Gerlinda was popular among the Germanic tribes of central and western Europe, particularly in regions that are now part of modern-day Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 7th century, when it appeared in various medieval documents and records.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Gerlinda of Saxony, a medieval noblewoman who lived in the 9th century. She was the wife of Louis the Younger, King of East Francia, and played a significant role in the political affairs of the Carolingian Empire.
Another notable historical figure with the name Gerlinda was a 10th-century German abbess and saint. Saint Gerlinda of Remiremont was the founder and first abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Remiremont in present-day France. She is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, and her feast day is celebrated on May 20th.
In the 11th century, the name Gerlinda appeared in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an important historical record of events in England. The chronicle mentions a woman named Gerlinda who was the wife of King Cnut the Great, one of the most powerful rulers of the Anglo-Saxon period.
As the name evolved over time, various spellings and variants emerged, including Gerldine. One prominent bearer of this variant was Gerldine of Aquitaine, a 12th-century noblewoman and patron of the arts. She was known for her patronage of troubadours and played a significant role in the development of courtly love poetry in medieval France.
Another notable figure with the name Gerldine was Gerldine of Piacenza, an Italian mystic and religious writer who lived in the 13th century. She is remembered for her spiritual writings and her contributions to the development of mystical theology in the Middle Ages.
While the name Gerldine has fallen out of common usage in modern times, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of historical names and serves as a reminder of the cultural and linguistic diversity that has shaped the development of given names over the centuries.
People
Gerldine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerldine 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
Gerldine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerldine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerldine 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 2,577,100 US residents.
Is Gerldine a common name?
We classify Gerldine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 483 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerldine most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerldine was 1933, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerldine is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gerldine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 206 people with the name Gerldine, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,688 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 Gerldine 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 Gerldine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerldine appears almost entirely female. Of the 204 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 Gerldine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerldine is White at 56.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Gerldine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gerldine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.8% (117 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 Gerldine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gerldine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gerldine 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 Gerldine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gerldine 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 Gerldine 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 share the name Gerldine?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.