Jarold
Masculine · “spear rule”
Jarold may respell one Germanic name or another, and the record does not choose between them. Its first letters open a word that turns up across northern Europe as the ordinary term for a fenced piece of ground.
How old is the name Jarold?
Jarold first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Jarold alive today was born around 1947, making them about 78 years old. About 300 people named Jarold are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jarold most popular?
Jarold peaked in 1937, reaching #1576 nationally. See the whole 1937 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gerald to Jarold
The story of Jarold
A yard and a garden are the same word. Old English geard, an enclosure, gives yard; Norse garðr gives the -garth in northern English place names and field names; and the same root, through Frankish into French as jardin, comes back into English as garden, so English has borrowed its own word twice. It is in Asgard, the enclosure of the gods; in Novgorod and Leningrad, where the Slavic cognate means a walled town; in Stuttgart, a stud farm's enclosure; and in orchard, which is a wort-yard, a plant enclosure. What all of them describe is a fence. The idea that a garden is essentially a boundary rather than a planting runs through the whole family.
Meaning
spear rule
The name it respells joins two Germanic elements, one meaning a spear and one meaning to rule. The pair is ancient and the reading is not disputed; this spelling changes the opening letters and the vowel.
How the name formed
- Gerald
- Jarold
Pronouncing Jarold
JAR-uld
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The standard spellings say JER-uld; this one moves the first vowel back, which is audible.
Nicknames for Jarold
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 193719 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1576reached in 1937
- Change vs 1998
- 0.0%5 in 2001, 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.
Jarolds among us
people named Jarold 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
Jarold 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
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- The elements behind it are documented and genuinely old.
- Six letters with no silent ones make it quick to write.
- Gerald, Jerald and Jerrold are all commoner and will be written for it.
- The changed vowel is audible, so it is a different sound rather than a different look.
- Which name it respells is not recorded.
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Jarold
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jarolds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Jarold are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jarold in 2025?
- Jarold is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Jarold with classmates?
- Jarold will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jarold? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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