Germain
Masculine name of Latin origin meaning "akin" or "of the same blood".
Name Census estimates that about 846 living Americans carry the first name Germain. It is a predominantly male name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Germain today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Germain births was 1972 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Germain. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Germain with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
846
~ 1 in 405,147 Americans
Peak year
1972
32 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,905
Tracked since 1913
Census
Germain in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,424 people with the first name Germain, which placed it at #9,667 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
#9,667
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,424 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Germain
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Germain is Hispanic at 42.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.0%) and White (17.1%). 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 Germain 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 Germain at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.8% · 610
- Black or African American36.0% · 513
- White17.1% · 243
- Two or more races2.3% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Germain
Germain leans heavily male at 95.9% of total registrations, but 42 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Germain as a male name
- Ranked #11,345 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1981 (30 births)
Germain as a female name
- Ranked #10,905 in 1980
- 5 female births in 1980
- Peak: 1966 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Germain leans strongly male. 1,292 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 127 female bearers (8.9%).
Popularity
Germain: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Germain from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 202 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Germain 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 Germain during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Germains live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Germain, while Minnesota, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Germain
The name Germain has its origins in the Late Latin word "germanus", meaning "full brother" or "born of the same parent". It is derived from the older Latin word "germen", meaning "sprout" or "seed". The name has been in use since the early days of Christianity, with traces of its use found in ancient Roman texts and inscriptions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Germain was Saint Germain of Auxerre, a 5th-century bishop who is credited with defending the city of Paris from Attila the Hun in 451 AD. Another notable figure was Germain Pilon, a 16th-century French sculptor who created works for the royal courts of France.
In the 8th century, an Anglo-Saxon monk named Germanus of Auxerre became known for his travels and missionary work across Europe. His life and teachings were recorded in the "Vita Germani" by Constantius of Lyon.
During the Middle Ages, the name Germain gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and Germany. One of the most famous figures with this name was Germain Nouveau, a 12th-century French ecclesiastic and philosopher who wrote extensively on theology and logic.
In the 17th century, Germain Gaultier was a prominent French lutenist and composer who influenced the development of French Baroque music. Another notable individual from this era was Germain Pilon, a French architect and engineer who designed several important buildings in Paris, including the Pont Neuf bridge.
As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way into other languages and cultures. In the 19th century, Germain Metge was a Catalan writer and poet who played a significant role in the Renaixença, the cultural revival of the Catalan language and literature.
Throughout history, the name Germain has been borne by individuals from various fields, including religion, arts, literature, and science. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its rich historical and cultural significance, as well as its association with notable figures who have left a lasting impact on the world.
People
Germain + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Germain 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
Germain: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Germain?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 846 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Germain 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 405,147 US residents.
Is Germain a common name?
We classify Germain as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Germain most popular?
The single biggest year for Germain was 1972, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Germain is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Germain in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,424 people with the name Germain, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,667 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 Germain 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 Germain?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Germain leans strongly male. 1,292 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 127 female bearers (8.9%). 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 Germain?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Germain is Hispanic at 42.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.0%) and White (17.1%). 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 Germain most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Germain in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.8% (610 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 Germain in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Germain a male name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Germain 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 Germain still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Germain 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 Germain 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 Germain as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Germain, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.