Gertude
A feminine name derived from the Germanic elements "gart" (strong) and "thrud" (strength).
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Gertude. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gertude today is around 102 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gertude births was 1917 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gertude. 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
- • The typical person named Gertude is about 102 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gertudes were born before 1934.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gertude. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1917
17 babies that year
Average age
102
years old
1938 SSA rank
#4,570
Tracked since 1885
Census
Gertude in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 196 people with the first name Gertude, which placed it at #38,869 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
#38,869
National first-name rank
People counted
196
196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gertude
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gertude is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Gertude 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 Gertude at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.8% · 131
- Black or African American28.6% · 56
- Two or more races3.6% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 2
Popularity
Gertude: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gertude from the 1880s through to the 1930s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 83 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Gertude remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gertude 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 Gertude 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 Gertude
The name Gertrude has its origins in the Germanic language, derived from the elements "ger" meaning spear and "thrud" meaning strength or force. It was a popular name among the Franks and other Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gertrude can be found in the 7th century, when it was borne by the daughter of Pippin of Landen, a nobleman in the Frankish Kingdom. This Gertrude later became a nun and was eventually canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
In the 9th century, Gertrude the Elder, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious, was an influential figure in the Carolingian dynasty. She founded several monasteries and played a significant role in the religious and political affairs of her time.
Another notable Gertrude was Gertrude of Hackeborn, a 13th-century German mystic and writer who authored several spiritual works, including "The Herald of Divine Love." Her writings greatly influenced the development of mystical literature in the Middle Ages.
During the Renaissance, Gertrude was the name of a famous Dutch scholar and humanist, Gertrude Mostart, who lived from 1472 to 1536. She was renowned for her expertise in classical languages and literature, and her translations of ancient Greek texts were highly acclaimed.
In the 17th century, Gertrude More, an English writer and translator, was a prominent figure in the literary circles of her time. She was born in 1605 and is best known for her translations of various works from Italian and Spanish into English.
While the name Gertrude was once quite popular, especially in Germanic-speaking regions, its usage has declined significantly in recent centuries. However, it remains a significant part of European cultural heritage, with its rich history and associations with influential figures from the past.
People
Gertude + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gertude 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
Gertude: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gertude?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gertude 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Gertude a common name?
We classify Gertude as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gertude most popular?
The single biggest year for Gertude was 1917, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gertude is about 102 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gertude in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 196 people with the name Gertude, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,869 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 Gertude 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 Gertude?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gertude leans strongly female. 197 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Gertude?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gertude is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Gertude most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gertude in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.8% (131 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 Gertude in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gertude a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gertude in the SSA data are female. 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 Gertude still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gertude 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 Gertude 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 Americans are named Gertude?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.