Gerald
Masculine · “spear rule”
Gerald is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 448,966 boys against 2,385 girls since 1880. See Gerald as a girl name
The man who wrote the first detailed accounts of Wales and Ireland was called Gerald, and he got a great deal wrong. Gerald of Wales traveled both countries in the twelfth century, wrote them up at length, and mixed careful observation with everything anybody told him — which is why historians use him constantly and trust him carefully.
How old is the name Gerald?
Gerald was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Gerald alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 228,000 people named Gerald are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gerald most popular?
Gerald peaked in 1936, reaching #19 nationally. Today it ranks #1204, 1,185 places below that high. See the whole 1936 chart.
Where it comes from
From Gerwald to Gerald
The story of Gerald
Giraldus Cambrensis was half Norman and half Welsh, wanted to be bishop of St Davids, never got it, and spent his life writing instead. His books are the earliest sustained descriptions of either country: the topography, the customs, the food, the music, the fish. Some of it is first-rate reporting and some of it is credulous nonsense about barnacle geese growing on trees. English keeps Gerald and Gerard apart as two names; French does not distinguish them nearly so firmly, and the two Germanic compounds behind them differ only in their second element.
Meaning
spear rule
The Germanic compound joins a word for a spear to one for rule or power. It is among the clearest compounds in the whole name stock.
How the name formed
- Gerwald
- Gerald
Related forms: Geraud · Giraldo · Geraldo · Gerold
Pronouncing Gerald
JER-uld
Two syllables with the weight at the front, the g soft. Italian and Spanish give it three with a hard g.
Nicknames for Gerald
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 194211,484 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #19reached in 1936
- Change vs 2022
- −18.4%168 in 2025, from 206
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Gerald in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Geraud in French — same name
- Giraldo in Italian — same name
- Geraldo in Spanish — same name
- Gerold in German — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Geralds among us
people named Gerald are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 10,167 born in 2025 was named Gerald
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ralph test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gerald's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ralph climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ralph's path sketches the road Gerald is walking now.
Gerald has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Gerald is headed
Gerald should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Gerald beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gerald in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a form in every western European language.
- Jerry is one of the most established short forms in English.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- The meaning is transparent and easy to explain.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the twentieth century in America.
- Gerald and Gerard are constantly substituted for one another.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
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Gerald
Masculine · #1204 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Geralds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 228,000 people named Gerald are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gerald in 2025?
- Gerald ranks #1204 among US boy names in 2025, with 168 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gerald?
- About 1 in every 10,167 US boys born in 2025 was named Gerald — 168 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gerald with classmates?
- Gerald will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gerald
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Perseus#1204 · Shivansh#1204 · Immanuel#1204 · Jovani#1204 · Karsyn#1204 · Arman#1204 · Eyden#1204 · Zavian#1196
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gerald? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gerald and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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