Geraldine
Feminine
Geraldine is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 211,349 girls against 748 boys since 1880. See Geraldine as a boy name
Geraldine is recorded for boys and girls alike. For several years around the turn of the nineteen-seventies it was also the name of a character on American television who supplied the country with a phrase everybody repeated.
How old is the name Geraldine?
Geraldine was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Geraldine alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 82,500 people named Geraldine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Geraldine most popular?
Geraldine peaked in 1931, reaching #38 nationally. Today it ranks #2438, 2,400 places below that high. See the whole 1931 chart.
Geraldine appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Geraldine
Flip Wilson's Geraldine was a recurring character on a network variety show at the top of the ratings, and two of her lines entered general American speech: the one about the devil making her do it, and the one about what you see being what you get, which later became a technical term in computing by a route nobody planned. The character was performed by a man in a dress and was written, unusually for the period, as confident, sharp and entirely uninterested in apologizing, which is a large part of why she landed. The show was the first successful variety hour hosted by a Black performer on American network television.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name was coined in a Tudor poem as a feminine of Gerald, whose Germanic elements are documented. Why the record holds it for boys as well is not explained anywhere.
Pronouncing Geraldine
JAIR-ul-deen
Three syllables with the stress in front and a soft g. The French form puts the weight at the end.
Nicknames for Geraldine
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 girls named
- 19305,448 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #38reached in 1931
- Change vs 2022
- −44.3%73 in 2025, from 131
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.
Geraldine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Géraldine in French — same name
- Gearóidín in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Geraldines among us
people named Geraldine are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 22,017 born in 2025 was named Geraldine
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 Beatrice test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Geraldine's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Beatrice climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Beatrice's path sketches the road Geraldine is walking now.
Geraldine sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Geraldine is headed
Geraldine should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Geraldine beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Geraldine in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Gerry is available as a short form and works for a child of either sex.
- It has a documented literary origin with a known author and century, which few names can claim.
- It is read correctly at first sight by nearly everybody.
- In America it reads as belonging to an older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- The soft g means it is occasionally written with a J by people working from sound.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Geraldine to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Geraldine? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Geraldine
Feminine · #2438 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Geraldines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 82,500 people named Geraldine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Geraldine in 2025?
- Geraldine ranks #2438 among US girl names in 2025, with 73 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Geraldine?
- About 1 in every 22,017 US girls born in 2025 was named Geraldine — 73 in all.
- Will my child share the name Geraldine with classmates?
- Geraldine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Geraldine
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Saniya#2438 · Amaryllis#2438 · Ellia#2438 · Tamar#2438 · Amaira#2438 · Zena#2438 · Mable#2438 · Rorie#2438
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Geraldine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Geraldine and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle