Gershon
Of Hebrew origin meaning "stranger residing there" or "refugee".
Name Census estimates that about 854 living Americans carry the first name Gershon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gershon today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gershon births was 2024 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gershon. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gershon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
854
~ 1 in 401,352 Americans
Peak year
2024
37 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,232
Tracked since 1915
Census
Gershon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 858 people with the first name Gershon, which placed it at #13,910 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
#13,910
National first-name rank
People counted
858
858 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gershon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gershon is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Gershon 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 Gershon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.4% · 630
- Black or African American15.4% · 132
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 25
- Two or more races1.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Gershon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gershon from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 223 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Gershon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gershon 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 Gershon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gershons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gershon
The name Gershon originates from the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew word "ger," which means "stranger" or "sojourner." The name's roots can be traced back to biblical times, as it is mentioned in the Book of Exodus and Numbers in the Old Testament.
Gershon was the firstborn son of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. According to the biblical account, the Levites were entrusted with the responsibility of carrying and maintaining the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary used by the Israelites during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.
The name Gershon first appears in the Book of Exodus, where it is mentioned that the Gershonites were responsible for carrying the curtains, coverings, and hangings of the Tabernacle. Additionally, in the Book of Numbers, the Gershonites are listed among the Levitical families charged with specific duties related to the Tabernacle.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Gershon was Gershon ben Judah, a renowned Talmudic scholar who lived in Babylonia during the 4th century CE. He was known for his expertise in Jewish law and his contributions to the development of the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism.
Another notable figure with the name Gershon was Gershon ben Eliezer, a prominent Jewish philosopher and biblical commentator who lived in France during the 11th century. He is best known for his work on the Sefer ha-Yashar, a commentary on the Torah that explored ethical and philosophical themes.
In the 16th century, Gershon Ashkenazi was a renowned Jewish scholar and kabbalist who lived in the Ottoman Empire. He was instrumental in promoting the study of Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Judaism, and authored several influential works on the subject.
Gershon Cohen was a renowned American historian and scholar who lived from 1914 to 1991. He was a leading authority on Jewish history and contributed significantly to the study of Jewish-Christian relations in the Middle Ages.
Gershon Shaked was an Israeli literary scholar and critic who lived from 1929 to 2006. He was renowned for his work on modern Hebrew literature and his contributions to the study of Israeli culture and society.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Gershon, a name with deep roots in the Hebrew language and biblical tradition.
People
Gershon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gershon 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
Gershon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gershon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 854 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gershon 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 401,352 US residents.
Is Gershon a common name?
We classify Gershon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 937 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gershon most popular?
The single biggest year for Gershon was 2024, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gershon is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gershon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 858 people with the name Gershon, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,910 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 Gershon 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 Gershon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gershon appears almost entirely male. Of the 856 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Gershon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gershon is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Gershon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gershon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (630 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 Gershon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gershon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gershon 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 Gershon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gershon 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 Gershon 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 Gershon?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.