Gershom
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "stranger there" or "expelled".
Name Census estimates that about 203 living Americans carry the first name Gershom. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gershom today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gershom births was 2006 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gershom. 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
203
~ 1 in 1,688,445 Americans
Peak year
2006
12 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,347
Tracked since 1982
Popularity
Gershom: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gershom from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 54 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Gershom remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gershom 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 Gershom 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 Gershom
The name Gershom has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "ger" meaning "stranger" and "sham" meaning "there," suggesting a meaning of "stranger there" or "sojourner."
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Gershom is mentioned as the name given to one of the sons of Moses by his wife Zipporah. This biblical reference is found in the Book of Exodus, where it is recorded that Moses named his son Gershom because he was a stranger in a foreign land.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Gershom was Gershom ben Judah, a prominent Jewish scholar who lived in the 11th century. He was a renowned commentator on the Talmud and is considered one of the most influential figures in the field of Jewish law and ethics.
In the 16th century, Gershom Soncino was an Italian Jewish printer who established the first Hebrew printing press in Constantinople. He played a significant role in the dissemination of Jewish literature and the preservation of Jewish cultural heritage.
Another notable figure with the name Gershom was Gershom Scholem, a German-born Israeli philosopher and scholar who lived from 1897 to 1982. He is widely regarded as the founder of the modern academic study of Kabbalah and made significant contributions to the understanding of Jewish mysticism.
In the field of literature, Gershom Scholem's contemporary, Gershom Sholem, was a renowned Israeli novelist and playwright who lived from 1905 to 1984. His works explored themes of identity, memory, and the experiences of the Jewish diaspora.
Gershom Carmichael, born in 1672 and died in 1729, was a Scottish philosopher and theologian who made notable contributions to the field of moral philosophy and natural theology. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment.
While the name Gershom has its roots in ancient Hebrew, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and communities over the centuries, with each individual bearing the name contributing to its rich history and significance.
People
Gershom + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gershom 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
Gershom: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gershom?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 203 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gershom 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 1,688,445 US residents.
Is Gershom a common name?
We classify Gershom as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gershom most popular?
The single biggest year for Gershom was 2006, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gershom is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gershom a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gershom 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.