Germar
Of Old German origin, meaning "brave with a spear".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Germar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Germar today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Germar births was 1978 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Germar. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Germar. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1978
7 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1981 SSA rank
#6,626
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Germar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Germar from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 7 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Germar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Germar 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 Germar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Germar
The given name Germar has its origins in the Germanic languages. The name is believed to have derived from the Old High German words "ger" meaning "spear" and "mari" meaning "famous," thus potentially translating to "famous with the spear" or "renowned warrior."
This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions with strong Germanic cultural influences, such as modern-day Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. The name was commonly used by the nobility and warrior classes, reflecting its martial connotations.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Germar can be found in the Hildebrandslied, an Old High German heroic poem from the 8th century. The poem features a dialogue between a father and son named Hildebrand and Hadubrand, respectively, with the latter using the name Germar as an epithet.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Germar. One such figure was Germar von Prag (c. 1290-1350), a German poet and member of the Meistersinger guild during the late Middle Ages. His works, though few in number, were influential in the development of German lyric poetry.
Another prominent individual with the name Germar was Germar Rudolf (born 1964), a German author and Holocaust denier. Despite the controversial nature of his work, he remains a significant figure in the neo-Nazi movement and has faced legal consequences for his writings.
In the realm of science, Germar Friedrich Ernst Rudolph Herrmann (1835-1898) was a German entomologist and naturalist. He made significant contributions to the study of beetles and was the author of several works on insect taxonomy.
The name Germar also appeared in the annals of early Christianity. Saint Germar (c. 635-677) was a Frankish abbot and founder of the Benedictine abbey of Isny in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
One of the more recent historical figures with the name Germar was Germar Freiherr von Münchhausen (1900-1951), a German jurist and politician who served as the Minister of Justice in the Free State of Saxony during the Weimar Republic.
People
Germar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Germar 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
Germar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Germar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Germar 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Germar a common name?
We classify Germar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Germar most popular?
The single biggest year for Germar was 1978, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Germar is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Germar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Germar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Germar 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.
Is Germar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Germar 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 Germar 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Germar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.