Germaine
Masculine · “of the same parents”
Germaine is given to both — 2,364 boys and 7,910 girls since 1880. See Germaine as a girl 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 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Germaine alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 2,200 people named Germaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Germaine most popular?
Germaine peaked in 1972, reaching #629 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 9,085 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.
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
- 1967
- Most boys named
- 1972157 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #629reached in 1972
- Change vs 2024
- +16.7%7 in 2025, from 6
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 boy in 244,011 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 Aurelio 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: Aurelio climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Aurelio'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 boys 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
Masculine · #9714 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 2,200 people named Germaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Germaine in 2025?
- Germaine ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Germaine?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Germaine — 7 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.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
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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