Gerrit
Masculine Dutch name meaning "spear strength" or "manly valor".
Name Census estimates that about 1,878 living Americans carry the first name Gerrit. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gerrit today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerrit births was 1916 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerrit. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 182,510 Americans
Peak year
1916
49 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,257
Tracked since 1881
Census
Gerrit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,271 people with the first name Gerrit, which placed it at #6,898 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
#6,898
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,271 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerrit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerrit is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Gerrit 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 Gerrit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 2,053
- Two or more races4.5% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 75
- Black or African American0.8% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Popularity
Gerrit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerrit from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 383 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
Gerrit 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 Gerrit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerrits live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Michigan, Iowa, California recorded the most babies named Gerrit, while Washington, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 83 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerrit
The name Gerrit is a Dutch masculine given name derived from the Germanic name Gerhard, which is composed of the elements "gar" meaning "spear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy". The name was popular in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
In its earliest recorded uses, the name Gerrit appeared in medieval Dutch records and documents dating back to the 12th century. It was a common name among the nobility and upper classes of the Low Countries, particularly in the provinces of Holland and Zeeland.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Gerrit was Gerrit van Voorburg, a Dutch military leader who lived in the 13th century. He played a significant role in the defense of the city of Delft during a conflict with the County of Holland.
Another notable figure was Gerrit Gerritsz, also known as Gerrit the Potter, a Dutch Renaissance painter and potter who lived from around 1465 to 1535. He is renowned for his intricate and detailed ceramic works, which are now considered important examples of Dutch Renaissance art.
In the 17th century, during the Dutch Golden Age, the name Gerrit was particularly popular among the wealthy merchant and trading classes. One famous bearer was Gerrit Dou, a Dutch Golden Age painter who lived from 1613 to 1675. He was renowned for his meticulously detailed and highly realistic genre scenes.
During the Dutch Reformation, the name was also prevalent among Protestant leaders and thinkers. Gerrit de Vries, a Dutch Protestant minister who lived from 1648 to 1720, was a prominent figure in the Calvinist church and played a significant role in the religious and political debates of his time.
Another notable figure was Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde, a Dutch Golden Age painter who lived from 1638 to 1698. He was known for his masterful depictions of architecture, cityscapes, and street scenes, capturing the bustling life of 17th-century Holland.
While the name Gerrit has remained popular in the Netherlands throughout its history, it has also gained recognition in other parts of the world, particularly among Dutch diaspora communities. Several prominent individuals with the name have made significant contributions in various fields, further adding to the rich history and legacy of this Dutch name.
People
Gerrit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerrit 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
Gerrit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerrit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,878 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerrit 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 182,510 US residents.
Is Gerrit a common name?
We classify Gerrit as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,861 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerrit most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerrit was 1916, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerrit is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gerrit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,271 people with the name Gerrit, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,898 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 Gerrit 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 Gerrit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerrit appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,272 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Gerrit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerrit is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Gerrit most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gerrit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (2,053 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 Gerrit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gerrit a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gerrit 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 Gerrit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gerrit 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 Gerrit 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 common is the name Gerrit?
See how many Americans are named Gerrit on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.