Gerren
Variant of the English name Garen, derived from Garenne meaning "rabbit warren".
Name Census estimates that about 568 living Americans carry the first name Gerren. It is a predominantly male name (93.6% of registrations). The average person named Gerren today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerren births was 1983 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerren. 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
568
~ 1 in 603,441 Americans
Peak year
1983
48 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2012 SSA rank
#9,148
Tracked since 1976
Census
Gerren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 525 people with the first name Gerren, which placed it at #19,901 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
#19,901
National first-name rank
People counted
525
525 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerren is Black at 74.3%. The next largest groups are White (15.6%) and Two or More Races (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 Gerren 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 Gerren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.3% · 390
- White15.6% · 82
- Two or more races4.2% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Gerren
Gerren leans heavily male at 93.6% of total registrations, but 38 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gerren as a male name
- Ranked #9,148 in 2012
- 8 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1983 (48 births)
Gerren as a female name
- Ranked #11,586 in 2010
- 9 female births in 2010
- Peak: 2009 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerren leans strongly male. 460 people counted with this name were male (88.0%), compared with 63 female bearers (12.0%).
Popularity
Gerren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerren from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 323 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gerren 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 Gerren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerrens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Gerren, while Florida, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerren
The name Gerren is believed to have its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old High German word "gerren," which means "to covet" or "to desire." This name likely emerged during the early medieval period, around the 6th to 8th centuries AD, when Germanic tribes were widespread throughout Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gerren can be found in the Codex Hersfeldensis, a 9th-century manuscript from the Hersfeld Abbey in present-day Germany. This document mentions a nobleman named Gerren, who was a vassal of the Carolingian Empire.
In the 11th century, a Benedictine monk named Gerren von Regensburg gained recognition for his scholarly works on theology and philosophy. He was born in the city of Regensburg, Bavaria, in 1021 and died in 1092.
During the 13th century, a notable figure named Gerren von Münster served as the Archbishop of Münster, a prominent city in the Holy Roman Empire. He held this position from 1238 until his death in 1259.
In the 15th century, a Dutch painter named Gerren van der Weyden was celebrated for his religious artworks, particularly his altarpieces and panel paintings. He was born in Tournai, Flanders (now part of Belgium), around 1400 and died in 1464.
Another historical figure with the name Gerren was a French diplomat and courtier named Gerren de Montmorency, who lived during the 16th century. He served as a trusted advisor to King Henry IV of France and played a significant role in the peace negotiations that ended the French Wars of Religion.
While the name Gerren has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has been adopted and used in various cultures throughout history. However, its popularity has waned over time, and it is now considered a relatively uncommon name in most regions of the world.
People
Gerren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerren 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
Gerren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 568 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerren 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 603,441 US residents.
Is Gerren a common name?
We classify Gerren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 590 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerren most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerren was 1983, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerren is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gerren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 525 people with the name Gerren, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,901 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 Gerren 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 Gerren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerren leans strongly male. 460 people counted with this name were male (88.0%), compared with 63 female bearers (12.0%). 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 Gerren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerren is Black at 74.3%. The next largest groups are White (15.6%) and Two or More Races (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 Gerren most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Gerren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (390 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 Gerren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gerren a male name?
Yes, 93.6% of people registered as Gerren 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 Gerren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gerren 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 Gerren 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 named Gerren?
Want to know how many Americans are named Gerren? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.