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

Gerding, 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 Gerding surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gerding in America

Gerding is the 23532nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gerding surname appeared 1,079 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Gerding.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gerding 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 Gerding

The surname Gerding has its roots in the Netherlands and Germany, with earliest records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the Middle Low German word "gerd," meaning "enclosure" or "fenced area," indicating that the name likely referred to someone who lived near or worked in an enclosed field or farm.

One of the earliest known references to the name Gerding is found in the baptismal records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam in 1598, where a child named Willem Gerding was baptized. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the Netherlands by that time.

In Germany, the name Gerding is thought to have first appeared in the northern regions, particularly in Lower Saxony and Westphalia, where many place names ending in "-ing" are found. These place names often derived from the names of the original settlers or landowners in those areas.

A notable early bearer of the Gerding name was Johann Gerding, a German scholar and theologian who lived from 1598 to 1660. He was a professor at the University of Helmstedt and authored several works on theology and philosophy.

Another prominent figure was Petrus Gerding, a Dutch painter born in 1627 in Amsterdam. He is known for his still-life paintings and landscapes, and his works can be found in several museums, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

In the 18th century, the Gerding surname appeared in the records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), with several individuals bearing the name serving as sailors or administrators for the company in its overseas colonies.

One such individual was Hendrik Gerding, who was born in 1712 in Groningen, Netherlands, and served as a bookkeeper for the VOC in Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia) in the mid-18th century.

Another notable bearer of the Gerding name was Cornelis Gerding, a Dutch artist born in 1809 in Rotterdam. He was known for his paintings of landscapes and city scenes, and his works were exhibited in several Dutch cities during his lifetime.

While the Gerding surname is not among the most common in the Netherlands or Germany, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and has produced notable individuals in various fields, including academia, art, and maritime exploration.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gerding

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

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 Gerding 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 Gerding 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 Gerding was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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