2000
#4,375
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,504
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.78
Rare Last name
Gearhart
An occupational surname for someone who made or used tools, weapons, or equipment with gears or cogs.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,251 Americans carry the last name Gearhart. That puts it at #4,766 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.41 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 41,541 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gearhart surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
8.3K
1 in 41,541
Census rank
#4,766
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,195 bearers of the surname Gearhart in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.41 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4766th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gearhart, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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One notable early record of the name is found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae," a collection of historical documents from Saxony, which mentions a "Gerhardus de Bopfinghen" in 1292.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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gearhart
Among Census respondents with the surname Gearhart, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Gearhart bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Gearhart surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.5% · 6,652
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 243
- Two or more races3.3% · 235
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 20
- Black or African American0.2% · 17
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gearhart
Gearhart appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#4,696
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,553
+49 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 2.56
Rank movement Down 321 places
2020
#4,766
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,195
-358 bearers (-4.7%)
Per 100,000 2.41
Rank movement Down 70 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,375 | 7,504 | 2.78 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,696 | 7,553 | 2.56 | +49 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 321 places |
| 2020 | #4,766 | 7,195 | 2.41 | -358 bearers (-4.7%) | Down 70 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Gearhart surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #4,696 | #4,766 | -1.5% |
| Count | 7,553 | 7,195 | -4.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.56 | 2.41 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gearhart bearers went from 7,553 to 7,195 (-4.7% change). The surname moved down 70 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,696 to #4,766.
FAQ
Gearhart surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gearhart?
Name Census estimates that about 8,251 living Americans carry the surname Gearhart. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 41,541 residents.
How common is Gearhart?
Gearhart ranks #4,766 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.41 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,195 people with the surname Gearhart. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,251), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.41 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.41 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Gearhart.
Has Gearhart become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gearhart went from 7,553 recorded bearers to 7,195. That is a decrease of 358 (-4.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,696 to #4,766.
What does the Census say about the background of Gearhart?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gearhart, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gearhart in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (6,652 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gearhart appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.5%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (3.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Gearhart (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Gearhart mean?
An occupational surname for someone who made or used tools, weapons, or equipment with gears or cogs. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Gearhart (2.41 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Gearhart?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.