Gerard
Meaning
ger "spear" + hart "hard, firm, brave" (Old German); used as a Haitian given name
Gerard around the world
One shared root links 7 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: two Germanic ger "spear" compounds, Gerald with wald "rule" and Gerard with hart "hard, brave", so entangled in medieval English use that their descendants are shared
The constellation
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Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Gerard peaked in the 1940s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
257 people · the #21,268 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 47
Among people named Gerard living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Gerard
Most people given the name Gerard in the United States were born between 1950 and 1989. The Gerard you meet today is most often in his 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Gerard deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Gerard truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Gerard fits with your family’s names and surname.
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