2000
#11,197
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,596
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Gerhard
A Germanic surname derived from a personal name composed of the elements ger, meaning "spear," and hard, meaning "brave."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,853 Americans carry the last name Gerhard. That puts it at #11,991 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 120,138 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gerhard 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
2.9K
1 in 120,138
Census rank
#11,991
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,488 bearers of the surname Gerhard in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11991st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gerhard, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gerhard
The surname Gerhard originated in Germany and dates back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Gerhard, which is composed of the elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy". This name was popular among the Franks and other Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Gerhard can be found in various German regions, such as Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland, from the 12th century onwards. It is believed that the name was initially adopted as a hereditary surname by individuals who bore the personal name Gerhard or a variant thereof.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was Gerhard von Rile, a nobleman and landowner who lived in the region of Westphalia in the late 12th century. His name is mentioned in several contemporary documents related to land transactions and legal disputes.
Another historical figure with the surname Gerhard was Johannes Gerhard, a prominent Lutheran theologian and scholar who lived from 1582 to 1637. He was born in Quedlinburg, Saxony, and is best known for his extensive work on Lutheran dogmatics, which influenced the development of Protestant theology in Germany.
In the 14th century, the surname Gerhard was also found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that individuals bearing this name may have migrated from Germany to England during the Norman conquest or shortly thereafter.
Gerhard Hauptmann, a renowned German playwright and novelist, was born in 1862 in Obersalzbrunn, Silesia (now part of Poland). He was a prominent figure in the Naturalist literary movement and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912 for his works, which often explored the lives and struggles of the working class.
Another notable figure was Gerhard Löwenthal, a German-American journalist and political scientist who lived from 1922 to 2002. He was born in Frankfurt am Main and is remembered for his contributions to the study of mass media, propaganda, and political communication.
While the surname Gerhard is most commonly associated with Germany, it has also been adopted by individuals of German descent in other countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, where it has undergone various spelling variations over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerhard
Among Census respondents with the surname Gerhard, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Gerhard 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 Gerhard surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 2,314
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 74
- Two or more races2.8% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
- Black or African American0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gerhard
Gerhard 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
#12,068
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,584
-12 bearers (-0.5%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Down 871 places
2020
#11,991
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,488
-96 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Up 77 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,197 | 2,596 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,068 | 2,584 | 0.88 | -12 bearers (-0.5%) | Down 871 places |
| 2020 | #11,991 | 2,488 | 0.83 | -96 bearers (-3.7%) | Up 77 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 Gerhard 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 | #12,068 | #11,991 | 0.6% |
| Count | 2,584 | 2,488 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.88 | 0.83 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gerhard bearers went from 2,584 to 2,488 (-3.7% change). The surname moved up 77 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,068 to #11,991.
FAQ
Gerhard surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gerhard?
Name Census estimates that about 2,853 living Americans carry the surname Gerhard. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 120,138 residents.
How common is Gerhard?
Gerhard ranks #11,991 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.83 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,488 people with the surname Gerhard. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,853), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.83 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Gerhard.
Has Gerhard become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gerhard went from 2,584 recorded bearers to 2,488. That is a decrease of 96 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #12,068 to #11,991.
What does the Census say about the background of Gerhard?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gerhard, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Gerhard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (2,314 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gerhard appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Hispanic (3.0%), Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Gerhard (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 Gerhard mean?
A Germanic surname derived from a personal name composed of the elements ger, meaning "spear," and hard, meaning "brave." 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 Gerhard (0.83 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 common is the surname Gerhard?
Want to know how common the surname Gerhard is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.