Gertrude
Masculine · “spear strength”
Gertrude is given to girls far more often — 177,100 girls against 568 boys since 1880. See Gertrude as a girl name
Gertrude is an old Germanic name of spear and strength, carried by a queen in Hamlet and by some of the boldest women of the twentieth century. It was once among the most familiar girls' names in America, and it still sounds sturdy and unafraid.
How old is the name Gertrude?
Gertrude first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Gertrude alive today was born around 1917, making them about 108 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Gertrude are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Gertrude most popular?
Gertrude peaked in 1891, reaching #564 nationally. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gertrud to Gertrude
The story of Gertrude
Gertrude was a saint's name in the early Middle Ages and a queen's name in Hamlet, and it came to America with German and English families. Its modern bearers gave it a reputation for daring. Gertrude Ederle, a butcher's daughter from New York, became the first woman to swim the English Channel and beat the men's record, and the city gave her a ticker-tape parade. Gertrude Bell, an English traveler and archaeologist, helped draw the borders of modern Iraq and founded its national museum. The name is recorded for a few boys, but it is a woman's name everywhere.
Meaning
spear strength
From Germanic ger, spear, and trud, strength.
How the name formed
- Gertrud
- Gertrude
Related forms: Gertrud · Geertruida · Geltrude · Gertrudis
Pronouncing Gertrude
GUR-trood
Stress on the first syllable.
Nicknames for Gertrude
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
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 192017 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #564reached in 1891
- Change vs 1943
- −28.6%5 in 1949, from 7
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.
Gertrude in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gertrud in German — same name
- Geertruida in Dutch — same name
- Geltrude in Italian — same name
- Gertrudis in Spanish — same name
Gertrudes among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Gertrude are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Gertrude 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 has a clear meaning and a long, documented history.
- Gertie, Trudy and Gert give three different short forms.
- It carries the example of several admired women.
- Many people hear it as old-fashioned and associate it with great-grandmothers.
- The short form Gertie has been used as a joke name in films and cartoons.
- A very few boys have been given it; for them it will read as a girl's name everywhere.
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What they receive
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Gertrude
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Gertrudes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Gertrude are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Gertrude in 2025?
- Gertrude is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Gertrude with classmates?
- Gertrude 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 Gertrude? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gertrude and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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