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

Jerry, 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 Jerry surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jerry in America

Jerry is the 11697th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jerry surname appeared 2,679 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Jerry.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jerry 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 Jerry

The surname JERRY originated in medieval England during the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old French name "Gervais" or "Gervaise", which in turn came from the Germanic name "Gerwih" meaning "spear ruler". The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears as "Gerveis" in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1176.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Robert Gervays, who was mentioned in the Curia Regis Rolls of Suffolk in 1198. Another early example is Willelmus Gerveis, recorded in the Feet of Fines for Oxfordshire in 1242. These early spellings demonstrate the transition from the Old French "Gervais" to the more anglicized form of "Gerveis" or "Gerveys".

The surname can also be traced back to various place names in England, such as Jarrow in County Durham, which was originally known as "Gyruum" or "Gervaux" in the 8th century. The name Gervase de Gervaux, born in 1141, provides an example of a person named after this location.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, various spellings of the name emerged, including "Gerveys", "Jerveys", and "Jerveis". One noteworthy bearer was Sir John Jerveis, a prominent landowner in Gloucestershire who was born in 1348 and served as a Member of Parliament.

In the 16th century, the spelling "Jerry" became more common, as evidenced by records such as William Jerry, who was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Another notable figure from this period was Thomas Jerry, a prominent merchant and alderman in London, who lived from 1537 to 1611.

Over the centuries, the name JERRY has been borne by several notable individuals, including Samuel Jerry, an English mathematician and theologian born in 1607, and Michael Jerry, an Irish soldier and military engineer who fought in the Williamite War in Ireland in the late 17th century. In more recent times, Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) was a renowned American composer and conductor who won an Academy Award for his score for the film "The Omen".

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jerry

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

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

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

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