Head to head · Boys' names
Gerardo vs Salem
#678 vs #679 in 2025
Gerardo is a whisker ahead (#678 vs #679 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Gerardo is stepping back from its peak, Salem is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Salem has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Gerardo leads 5 measures of 6; Salem leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Gerardo #1313, Salem — — Gerardo higher
- 1910s: Gerardo #1881, Salem #3069 — Gerardo higher
- 1920s: Gerardo #1708, Salem #3719 — Gerardo higher
- 1930s: Gerardo #1614, Salem #2864 — Gerardo higher
- 1940s: Gerardo #1250, Salem #2906 — Gerardo higher
- 1950s: Gerardo #670, Salem #3522 — Gerardo higher
- 1960s: Gerardo #461, Salem #3803 — Gerardo higher
- 1970s: Gerardo #327, Salem #3473 — Gerardo higher
- 1980s: Gerardo #292, Salem #3170 — Gerardo higher
- 1990s: Gerardo #225, Salem #2951 — Gerardo higher
- 2000s: Gerardo #254, Salem #2480 — Gerardo higher
- 2010s: Gerardo #436, Salem #1523 — Gerardo higher
- 2020s: Gerardo #594, Salem #690 — Gerardo higher
Gerardo stood higher in every recorded decade — 13 of 13.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gerardo | Salem |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1313 | — |
| 1910s | #1881 | #3069 |
| 1920s | #1708 | #3719 |
| 1930s | #1614 | #2864 |
| 1940s | #1250 | #2906 |
| 1950s | #670 | #3522 |
| 1960s | #461 | #3803 |
| 1970s | #327 | #3473 |
| 1980s | #292 | #3170 |
| 1990s | #225 | #2951 |
| 2000s | #254 | #2480 |
| 2010s | #436 | #1523 |
| 2020s | #594 | #690 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Gerardo
spear-brave, from Germanic ger (spear) and hard (bold, hardy)
Gerhard → Gerardus → Gérard → Gerardo
How it traveled
" Frankish and Lombard settlers carried it into what is now France and Italy, where it was reshaped by Romance mouths into Gérard, Gerardo and Geraldo; medieval Latin documents record it as Gerardus. Its Italian form belonged to Saint Gerard Majella, the eighteenth-century Redemptorist lay brother venerated as a patron of mothers and expectant mothers — a devotion that helped keep Gerardo alive in Catholic Italy and, through Spanish, across Latin America.
Salem
peace, whole, safe
From the Semitic root s-l-m, which gives Hebrew shalem 'complete, whole' and shalom 'peace', and Arabic salām 'peace' with sālim 'safe, sound'. The biblical Salem of Genesis 14 was understood by later Jewish and Christian writers as Jerusalem.
Shalem → Salēm → Salem
How it traveled
Salem begins as a place: the city whose king Melchizedek meets Abraham in Genesis, a name Greek and Latin translators of the Hebrew Bible passed on unchanged. English readers of scripture knew it for centuries before Puritan colonists in Massachusetts chose it for a settlement in the 1620s, and later Americans repeated it across the map — Salem in Oregon, Winston-Salem in North Carolina, New Salem in Illinois.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Gerardo
heh-RAR-doh
That is the Spanish pronunciation, with a breathy initial G. Italian speakers say jeh-RAR-doh, and English speakers often land on juh-RAR-doh. All three are heard in the US, so it is worth deciding early which one your family will offer.
- Gera — The everyday short form in Spanish-speaking families; informal, rarely used on documents.
- Gerry — Common in English-speaking settings, also spelled Jerry; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Yayo — An affectionate Spanish hypocoristic, used mostly within the family.
- Lalo — Used in Mexican and Central American families, though it more often belongs to Eduardo.
Salem
SAY-lum
Stress on the first syllable, matching the American cities. The Arabic name spelled the same way is said sah-LEEM, with the stress on the second syllable — worth deciding which you mean if your family uses both.
- Sal — The obvious one-syllable shortening; also long used on its own for Sally and Salvatore, so it reads as a nickname rather than a full name.
- Sale — Occasional informal clipping within families; rarely written down.
- Lem — Rare, back-clipped from the second syllable; used more as a household name than in public.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Gerardo if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsGerardo is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itGerardo runs 3 syllables, Salem 2
Choose Salem if you want…
- a name on the way upup 127 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesSalem is 2 syllables to Gerardo's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Gerardo
Strengths
- Works unchanged in Spanish and Italian, and has close relatives — Gerard, Gérard, Gerhard — in English, French and German.
- A documented line back to Germanic Gerhard, in continuous use for over a millennium.
- Several established short forms already in circulation: Gera, Gerry, Yayo.
To consider
- The initial G is the sticking point in English-speaking places: expect juh-RAR-doh from teachers and strangers unless you correct it. Many families simply accept both pronunciations.
- It is easily confused in writing with Geraldo, Gerald and Gerard, so spelling it out over the phone becomes routine.
- Outside Texas, California and the Southwest it is much less familiar, and it has been stepping back from its high point — a child named Gerardo is unlikely to share the name with a classmate.
Salem
Strengths
- Spelled the way Americans already read it, thanks to Salem, Oregon and Winston-Salem — little correcting, little repeating.
- Two syllables, one stress, no silent letters; it survives being shouted across a playground.
- Used for boys and girls in US records, so the spelling carries either child without adjustment.
To consider
- The Salem witch trials of 1692 are the first thing many Americans think of, and the talking cat in Sabrina the Teenage Witch is the second. Both associations are Halloween-tinted rather than dark, but they are there for life.
- It leans toward girls in US records without settling there, and boys named Salem are the smaller group. Either child may meet an assumption about which one they are before anyone sees them.
- The name has been climbing steadily and recently. A Salem starting school now will likely be the only one, but that is less certain by the time they finish it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Gerardo and Salem in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Gerardo and Salem each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gerardo or Salem — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gerardo or Salem?
- Gerardo, in 2025: Gerardo ranked #678 with 401 babies; Salem ranked #679 with 400 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gerardo or Salem?
- Salem. Over the last five years Gerardo moved down 123 places; Salem moved up 127 places.
- Which is the older name, Gerardo or Salem?
- Gerardo entered the US charts in 1906; Salem entered the US charts in 1912. On the American record, Gerardo is the older name.
- How many people are named Gerardo and Salem?
- About 52,000 people named Gerardo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,500 people named Salem are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gerardos or Salems in the classroom?
- Gerardo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Salem will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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