Gerold
A masculine given name of Germanic origin meaning "spear ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 1,583 living Americans carry the first name Gerold. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gerold today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerold births was 1939 (90 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerold. 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 Gerold is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gerolds were born before 1968.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 216,522 Americans
Peak year
1939
90 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2002 SSA rank
#7,895
Tracked since 1912
Census
Gerold in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,329 people with the first name Gerold, which placed it at #10,146 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
#10,146
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,329 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerold
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerold is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Gerold 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 Gerold at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.5% · 990
- Black or African American13.8% · 183
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 68
- Two or more races3.2% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 15
Popularity
Gerold: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerold from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 662 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gerold 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 Gerold during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerolds live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Illinois, Michigan, California recorded the most babies named Gerold, while Washington, Oklahoma, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerold
The name Gerold has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old High German elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "waltan" meaning "to rule" or "to wield." It was a compound name that likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 5th to 8th centuries CE, when Germanic tribes were widespread across parts of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gerold dates back to the 7th century CE, with Saint Gerold, a Benedictine monk and hermit who lived in what is now modern-day Switzerland. He is venerated as the patron saint of hunters and is associated with the founding of the monastery of Einsiedeln.
Another notable individual with the name Gerold was Gerold of Vindobona, a Frankish nobleman who lived in the 8th century CE and served as the prefect of Bavaria under Charlemagne's reign. He played a pivotal role in the expansion of Carolingian territory and the spread of Christianity in the region.
In the 11th century, Gerold the Great, also known as Gerold of Saxony, was a powerful nobleman and military leader who served as the Duke of Lower Lorraine and fought against the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy.
During the 13th century, Gerold of Basle, a Swiss monk and chronicler, is known for his extensive writings on the history of the region, providing valuable insights into the social and political landscape of medieval Switzerland.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, Gerold Edlibach was a Swiss humanist and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, collaborating with influential figures like Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Gerold, which has its roots in the Germanic languages and has been found in various regions of Europe, particularly in areas with a strong Germanic cultural influence.
People
Gerold + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerold 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
Gerold: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerold?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,583 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerold 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 216,522 US residents.
Is Gerold a common name?
We classify Gerold as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,965 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerold most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerold was 1939, when 90 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerold is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gerold in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,329 people with the name Gerold, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,146 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 Gerold 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 Gerold?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerold appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,336 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Gerold?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerold is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Gerold most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gerold in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (990 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 Gerold in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gerold a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gerold 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 Gerold still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gerold 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 Gerold 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 Americans are named Gerold?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Gerold at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.