Geraldene
A feminine form of the Germanic name Gerald, meaning "spear ruler."
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Geraldene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Geraldene today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geraldene births was 1931 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geraldene. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Geraldene is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Geraldenes were born before 1958.
People living today
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1931
30 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1970 SSA rank
#7,365
Tracked since 1913
Census
Geraldene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 298 people with the first name Geraldene, which placed it at #29,601 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,601
National first-name rank
People counted
298
298 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geraldene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geraldene is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Geraldene described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Geraldene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.9% · 232
- Black or African American11.1% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 6
- Two or more races1.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Geraldene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geraldene from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 215 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Geraldene by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Geraldene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Geraldenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Idaho recorded the most babies named Geraldene, while Idaho, North Carolina, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Geraldene
The name Geraldene is a feminine form of the name Gerald, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. It is derived from the Old English name Gerold or Gærweald, which is a compound of the elements "gær" meaning "spear" and "weald" meaning "to rule" or "to govern." The name essentially translates to "ruler with a spear" or "one who wields authority with a spear."
The earliest recorded use of the name Geraldene dates back to the late 19th century, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. It gained popularity as a variant of the more traditional names Gerald and Geraldine, which had been in use since the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Geraldene was Geraldene Karn (1887-1968), an American actress and vaudeville performer. She was born in New York City and had a successful career on stage and in early silent films during the 1910s and 1920s.
Another notable figure with the name Geraldene was Geraldene Richey (1912-1992), an American tennis player from Los Angeles, California. She won several major tournaments in the 1930s, including the U.S. National Championships (now known as the US Open) in 1935 and 1938.
In the literary world, Geraldene Holbrook (1900-1975) was an American writer and teacher. She authored several novels and short stories, with her most famous work being the 1936 novel "Footprints on the Ceiling."
Geraldene Weymouth (1910-1997) was a British artist and sculptor known for her abstract works in various mediums, including bronze, wood, and stone. She lived and worked in London for most of her career and had exhibitions at prestigious galleries throughout the United Kingdom.
Finally, Geraldene Felton (1920-2008) was a Canadian actress and voice artist. She had a long career in radio, television, and film, and was particularly known for her work in voicing animated characters, including the title role in the children's series "The Raccoons" in the 1980s.
While the name Geraldene has seen a decline in popularity in recent decades, it remains a unique and distinctive name with a rich historical background rooted in the Germanic languages and medieval European culture.
People
Geraldene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geraldene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Geraldene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geraldene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geraldene going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Geraldene a common name?
We classify Geraldene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 765 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geraldene most popular?
The single biggest year for Geraldene was 1931, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geraldene is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geraldene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 298 people with the name Geraldene, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,601 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Geraldene in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Geraldene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geraldene appears almost entirely female. Of the 297 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Geraldene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geraldene is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Geraldene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geraldene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (232 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Geraldene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geraldene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Geraldene in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Geraldene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geraldene in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Geraldene can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Geraldene as a first name?
See how many Americans are named Geraldene on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.