Find out how popular the last name Gearhart is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Gearhart.

Gearhart, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Gearhart surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gearhart in America

Gearhart is the 4696th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gearhart surname appeared 7,553 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Gearhart.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gearhart to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Gearhart

The surname Gearhart has its origins in German and Dutch, emerging in the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Old German words "gēr" meaning "spear" and "hart" meaning "brave" or "hardy." This suggests the name may have initially been given as a descriptive byname to a courageous spearman or warrior.

The earliest recorded instances of the Gearhart surname can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands. Variations in spelling, such as Geerhart, Gerhart, and Gehrhardt, were common during this time due to the lack of standardized spelling conventions.

One notable early record of the name is found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae," a collection of historical documents from Saxony, which mentions a "Gerhardus de Bopfinghen" in 1292. This entry suggests the presence of individuals bearing the Gearhart surname in the region during the late 13th century.

In the 16th century, the Gearhart surname appeared in various town records and church registers across Germany and the Netherlands. For example, a Johannes Geerhart was recorded as a citizen of the city of Cologne in 1572.

Among the notable historical figures with the Gearhart surname is Johann Gearhart (1590-1666), a German Protestant theologian and rector of the University of Heidelberg. Another prominent individual was Bartholomäus Gearhart (1625-1698), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his still-life and genre paintings.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, many Gearhart families emigrated from Germany and the Netherlands to various parts of North America, particularly Pennsylvania and other regions with significant German and Dutch settlements. This diaspora contributed to the further spread and establishment of the Gearhart surname in the New World.

Other notable individuals bearing the Gearhart name include Reverend Samuel Gearhart (1765-1834), an early American Lutheran minister and educator in Pennsylvania, and John Gearhart (1828-1900), a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Battle of Stones River.

Throughout its history, the Gearhart surname has maintained a strong connection to its Germanic and Dutch roots, reflecting the journey of families bearing this name from their ancestral homelands to new frontiers across the globe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gearhart

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Gearhart.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Gearhart was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Gearhart has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Gearhart was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Gearhart, please contact us.

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