German
Of Germanic origin, meaning "person from Germania".
Name Census estimates that about 9,511 living Americans carry the first name German. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named German today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of German births was 1991 (304 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for German. 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
9.5K
~ 1 in 36,038 Americans
Peak year
1991
304 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,652
Tracked since 1882
Gender
Gender distribution for German
Out of the 10,181 babies given the name German since 1880, 100.0% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
German as a male name
- Ranked #1,652 in 2024
- 102 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (304 births)
German as a female name
- Ranked #14,264 in 1993
- 5 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1993 (5 births)
Popularity
German: popularity over time
The SSA tracks German from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,493 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
German 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 German during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Germans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named German, while Wisconsin, Tennessee, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 368 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of German
The name German is derived from the Old German word "ger" meaning "spear". It originated as a personal name among the Germanic peoples of central and northern Europe during the early medieval period.
The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to the 6th century AD, where it appears in the historical records of the Frankish Kingdom. One notable early bearer of the name was German, Count of Auxerre, who lived in the late 5th century and served as a military commander under the Merovingian kings.
In the 8th century, the name gained religious significance with the life of St. German of Auxerre (c. 378-448), a renowned bishop and theologian in Gaul. His legacy and writings contributed to the spread of the name among early Christian communities in western Europe.
Another prominent figure bearing the name was German of Paris (c. 496-576), a Frankish abbot and theologian, who was instrumental in the development of early medieval theology and monastic traditions in France.
During the Middle Ages, the name German was particularly popular in Germanic regions, including modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. One of the most famous bearers of the name was German of Reichenau (c. 1010-1088), a Benedictine monk and scholar who made significant contributions to the fields of astronomy, mathematics, and theology.
In the 16th century, the name gained further recognition with the life of German Gardiner (c. 1530-1589), an English diplomat and scholar who served as the Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth I and played a pivotal role in the political and religious affairs of his time.
Despite its Germanic origins, the name German has been used across various cultures and regions throughout history, including in Spain, where German Sanz Agero (1826-1904) was a prominent politician and statesman during the 19th century.
People
German + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with German 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
German: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named German?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,511 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for German 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 36,038 US residents.
Is German a common name?
We classify German as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was German most popular?
The single biggest year for German was 1991, when 304 babies received the name. The fact that the average living German is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is German a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as German in the SSA data are male. 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.