Jeraldene
A feminine name with roots in Old English meaning "strong spear ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Jeraldene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeraldene today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeraldene births was 1936 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeraldene. 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 Jeraldene is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Jeraldenes were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jeraldene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1936
8 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1950 SSA rank
#5,635
Tracked since 1935
Popularity
Jeraldene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeraldene from the 1930s through to the 1950s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 25 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeraldene 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 Jeraldene 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 Jeraldene
The name Jeraldene is an English feminine given name that originated in the early 20th century. It is a compound name derived from the combination of the English name "Gerald" and the suffix "-ine", which is a common feminine ending for names.
Gerald is an English name derived from the Old German name "Gerwald", which is composed of the elements "gair" meaning "spear" and "waldan" meaning "to rule". The name was introduced to England by the Normans after the Norman Conquest in 1066.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jeraldene dates back to the late 19th century or early 20th century, although the exact year is not well-documented. It is believed to have been created as a feminine form of the name Gerald during this time period.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Jeraldene was Jeraldene Lillian Pautzke (1904-1976), an American actress and dancer who appeared in several Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s. Another early bearer of the name was Jeraldene Wood (1910-1998), an American actress and dancer who performed on Broadway and in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.
In the mid-20th century, Jeraldene Blunden (1915-1999) was a British author and playwright known for her novels and children's books. Jeraldene Vance (1917-2012) was an American artist and educator who taught art at several universities throughout her career.
More recently, Jeraldene Redic-Douglass (1927-2014) was an American educator and civil rights activist who played a significant role in desegregating public schools in Oklahoma in the 1950s and 1960s.
While the name Jeraldene has not been extremely common throughout history, it has been borne by several notable individuals across various fields, including the arts, literature, education, and civil rights activism.
People
Jeraldene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeraldene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jeraldene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeraldene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeraldene 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Jeraldene a common name?
We classify Jeraldene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 45 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeraldene most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeraldene was 1936, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeraldene is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Jeraldene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeraldene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeraldene 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 Jeraldene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeraldene 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 Jeraldene 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Jeraldene?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.