Gerold
Masculine · “spear rule”
Gerold is the German spelling and Gerald the French one, for the same Frankish name. Germany kept the original vowel; France softened the ending and passed its version to England, which is why the two look like different names and are not.
How old is the name Gerold?
Gerold first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Gerold alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 1,500 people named Gerold are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gerold most popular?
Gerold peaked in 1939, reaching #610 nationally. See the whole 1939 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gerwald to Gerold
The story of Gerold
A Gerold of Bavaria was Charlemagne's brother-in-law and one of his most trusted commanders, given the government of the eastern frontier after the Bavarian dukes were removed. He spent years fighting the Avars on the Danube and was killed by them in battle on the edge of the empire. The name stayed in use in German-speaking lands in that spelling, while the French form traveled to England with the Normans and became Gerald. American records carry both, and Gerold is much the rarer — it arrived with German immigration rather than through English, which is the tell.
Meaning
spear rule
The Frankish compound joins a word for a spear to one for rule or power. It is one of the commonest patterns in the Germanic name stock and the elements are not in doubt.
How the name formed
- Gerwald
- Gerold
Related forms: Gerold · Gerald · Geroldo · Geraud
Pronouncing Gerold
GAIR-uld
Two syllables with the weight at the front. German says GAY-rolt, giving the second syllable its full value and hardening the final consonant.
Nicknames for Gerold
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 193990 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #610reached in 1939
- Change vs 1999
- +60.0%8 in 2002, 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.
Gerold in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gerold in German — same name
- Gerald in English — related form
- Geroldo in Italian — same name
- Geraud in French — same name
Gerolds among us
people named Gerold are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Gerold sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both halves are readable, so the name is said correctly at sight.
- It is a standing name in German and Italian rather than an American respelling.
- Gerry is a ready short form that asks nothing of anyone.
- Gerald is far commoner in English and will be written instead.
- The German pronunciation and the English one are quite different, which matters in bilingual families.
- It reads clearly as a name of the first half of the twentieth century in America.
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Gerold
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Gerolds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Gerold are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gerold in 2025?
- Gerold is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Gerold with classmates?
- Gerold will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
George#126 · Gary#1073 · Gregory#593 · Gerald#1204 · Gabriel#37 · Glenn#1443 · Gavin#303 · Gordon#1051
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gerold? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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