Gerell
A masculine given name possibly derived from the Old English name Gerald.
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Gerell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gerell today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerell births was 1992 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerell. 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.
People living today
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
1992
13 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2007 SSA rank
#8,421
Tracked since 1978
Census
Gerell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 197 people with the first name Gerell, which placed it at #38,754 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
#38,754
National first-name rank
People counted
197
197 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerell is Black at 73.1%. The next largest groups are White (14.2%) and Hispanic (7.6%). 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 Gerell 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 Gerell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.1% · 144
- White14.2% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 15
- Two or more races2.5% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Gerell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerell from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 49 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Gerell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gerell 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 Gerell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerell
The given name Gerell has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old Norse word "gerr" which means "spear." It was a popular name among the Vikings and Scandinavian cultures during the 8th to 11th centuries AD. The name was often associated with warrior-like qualities and bravery.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gerell can be found in the Old Norse sagas, where it was mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the legendary Viking king, Ragnar Lodbrok, in the 9th century AD. The name was also found in runic inscriptions from that period, carved onto stones and artifacts.
In the Middle Ages, the name Gerell spread to other parts of Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands, where it was spelled as "Gerel" or "Gerelle." During this time, the name was often associated with nobility and knighthood.
The earliest known historical figure with the name Gerell was Gerell von Alten, a German knight who lived in the 13th century and fought in the Crusades. Another notable figure was Gerell van Buren, a Dutch explorer who accompanied the famous explorer Ferdinand Magellan on his journey around the world in the 16th century.
In the 17th century, the name Gerell was found in England, where it was sometimes spelled as "Jerrell" or "Jarrell." One of the most famous individuals with this name was Gerell Whittington, an English merchant and entrepreneur who lived from 1667 to 1735 and was known for his philanthropic work.
Another significant figure was Gerell Williamson, an American Revolutionary War soldier who served under General George Washington and was present at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton in 1776-1777. He lived from 1752 to 1835.
In the 19th century, the name Gerell gained popularity in Scandinavia once again. One notable individual was Gerell Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright and poet who was the brother of the famous writer Henrik Ibsen. Gerell Ibsen lived from 1828 to 1909.
People
Gerell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerell 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
Gerell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerell 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 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Gerell a common name?
We classify Gerell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerell most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerell was 1992, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerell is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gerell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 197 people with the name Gerell, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,754 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 Gerell 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 Gerell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerell leans strongly male. 183 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 13 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Gerell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerell is Black at 73.1%. The next largest groups are White (14.2%) and Hispanic (7.6%). 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 Gerell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Gerell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (144 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 Gerell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gerell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gerell in the SSA data are male. 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 Gerell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gerell 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 Gerell 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 are called Gerell?
You can see how many people share the name Gerell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.