Gertha
Feminine · “spear”
Gertrude has a t in the middle and this has a th, which is not a simplification but a substitution. The parent name's second element is a Germanic word with a plain t; replacing it with th produces a letter combination that was never in the name and that points at an entirely different set of sounds.
How old is the name Gertha?
Gertha first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Gertha alive today was born around 1925, making them about 100 years old. About 400 people named Gertha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gertha most popular?
Gertha peaked in 1883, reaching #754 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gerd to Gertha
The story of Gertha
The Norse candidate has one of the strangest courtship stories in the literature. Gerd was a giant's daughter, so beautiful that the light from her arms lit the sky, and a god saw her from a high seat and could not eat or sleep afterwards. He sent his servant to woo her; she refused gifts, refused threats, and agreed only when the servant threatened her with a curse of unbearable specificity. The god had given away his sword to get the servant to go, and the poem notes, in passing, that this is why he will be unarmed at the end of the world.
Meaningscholars disagree
spear, at one remove
If the source is Gertrude the first element is the Germanic word for a spear. If it is the Norse name discussed below, the sense is different again and rather more obscure.
How the name formed
- Gerd
- Gertrude
- Gertha
Pronouncing Gertha
GUR-thuh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The th is the voiceless one, which is what separates this from the parent name in the ear as well as on the page.
Nicknames for Gertha
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
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 191553 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #754reached in 1883
- Change vs 1964
- −37.5%5 in 1971, from 8
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.
Gerthas among us
people named Gertha 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
Gertha 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
- It is short and considerably less heavy than the name it comes from.
- Gertie sits behind it as a warmer short form.
- The spelling is unambiguous once the th is taken as voiceless.
- Gertrude and Gerda are both closer to the source and get substituted.
- The th belongs to neither of the possible parent names.
- The generation that used it is now very old.
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Gertha
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Gerthas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Gertha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gertha in 2025?
- Gertha is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Gertha with classmates?
- Gertha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
Grace#38 · Gloria#654 · Gladys#3211 · Geraldine#2438 · Gail#8362 · Gertrude#6546 · Georgia#99 · Gina#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gertha? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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