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

Gerhardt, 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 Gerhardt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gerhardt in America

Gerhardt is the 6736th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gerhardt surname appeared 5,007 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Gerhardt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gerhardt 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 Gerhardt

The surname Gerhardt is of German origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Gerhard, which is composed of the elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "hard" meaning "brave" or "hardy". The name was initially used as a given name before becoming a hereditary surname.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Gerhardt can be found in medieval German records and manuscripts from the 12th and 13th centuries. One notable example is the mention of a knight named Gerhardt von Braunschweig in a chronicle from the year 1215, describing his participation in a crusade to the Holy Land.

During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Gerhardt became more widespread across various regions of Germany. It was often associated with noble families or prominent individuals, such as the scholar and humanist Johann Gerhardt (1582-1637), who was a renowned Protestant theologian and hymnwriter.

In the 17th century, the Gerhardt surname appeared in various forms, including Gerhart, Gerhart, and Gerhardts, reflecting regional variations in spelling and pronunciation. One notable figure from this era was the German poet and mystic Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676), who is remembered for his influential religious poetry and hymns.

As the name spread across different German-speaking regions, it also became associated with certain place names or locations. For example, the name Gerhardt von Minden was recorded in the 14th century, referring to an individual from the city of Minden in the present-day state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Other notable individuals with the surname Gerhardt include the German mathematician Karl Immanuel Gerhardt (1816-1899), who made significant contributions to the field of algebraic geometry, and the philosopher and psychologist Karl Gerhardt (1833-1920), known for his work on the philosophy of education.

The surname Gerhardt has also been carried by prominent figures in various fields, such as the German-American physicist Charles Gerhardt (1816-1856), who made important discoveries in organic chemistry, and the German-American engineer and inventor Charles Proteus Steinmetz (born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz Gerhardt, 1865-1923), who contributed significantly to the development of alternating current electrical systems.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gerhardt

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

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

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

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