Germaine
Feminine · “of the same parents”
Germaine is given to both — 7,910 girls and 2,364 boys since 1880. See Germaine as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Germaine is one of the very few names in the American record that boys and girls receive in nearly equal numbers, and the reason is a collision. French has Germain for men and Germaine for women, said identically; American records keep only one spelling of the pair, and both traditions land in it. What looks like an unusually balanced name is really two names sharing a box.
How old is the name Germaine?
Germaine first appears in US birth records in 1895 — 130 years ago. The typical Germaine alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 3,500 people named Germaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Germaine most popular?
Germaine peaked in 1928, reaching #480 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,728 places below that high. See the whole 1928 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From germanus to Germaine
The story of Germaine
Germaine Cousin was a shepherd girl in a village near Toulouse at the end of the sixteenth century, treated badly at home and remembered afterward for her patience; she was canonized in the nineteenth century and became a considerable devotion in southwestern France. That kept the women's name in circulation. The men's name Germain has its own line, through a fifth-century bishop of Auxerre whose cult reached Britain. Both crossed to America, and the American record shows the result: a single spelling doing two jobs, with the children split almost evenly between them.
Meaning
of the same parents; a full brother or sister
From the Latin germanus, which meant a sibling by both parents rather than a half-sibling or a cousin. It has nothing to do with Germany — that word comes from a separate Latin term for the peoples across the Rhine, and the two look alike by accident.
How the name formed
- germanus
- Germanus
- Germain
- Germaine
Related forms: Germain · Germán · Germano · Germanus
Pronouncing Germaine
jer-MAIN
Two syllables with the stress at the back in American use. French says it closer to zhehr-MEN, with a softer opening consonant and a nasal ending, and the men's and women's spellings are said identically there.
Nicknames for Germaine
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
- 1895
- Most girls named
- 1929182 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #480reached in 1928
- Change vs 2022
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
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.
Germaine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Germain in French — same name
- Germán in Spanish — same name
- Germano in Italian — same name
- Germanus in Latin — same name
Germaines among us
people named Germaine are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Germaine
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 Johnie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Germaine's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Johnie climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Johnie's path sketches the road Germaine is walking now.
Germaine 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
Germaine beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Germaine in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It genuinely belongs to a child of either sex, which the record confirms rather than merely permits.
- The Latin meaning is warm and specific — it is a word about being fully someone's sibling.
- Two syllables, a firm stress, and no difficulty of pronunciation.
- It is standard in French rather than an American coinage.
- Because the split is close to even, forms and rosters will guess and will often be wrong.
- It is constantly assumed to mean German, which it does not.
- Germain, Jermaine and Germane all sit close by and will be written instead.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Germaine
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Germaines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,500 people named Germaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Germaine in 2025?
- Germaine ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Germaine?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Germaine — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Germaine with classmates?
- Germaine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Germaine
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Germaine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Germaine and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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