Gerri
A feminine diminutive of the name "Gertrude", derived from the Germanic elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "thrud" meaning "strength".
Name Census estimates that about 4,143 living Americans carry the first name Gerri. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gerri today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gerri births was 1958 (226 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gerri. 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 Gerri with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 82,731 Americans
Peak year
1958
226 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1966 SSA rank
#4,160
Tracked since 1925
Census
Gerri in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,989 people with the first name Gerri, which placed it at #3,917 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
#3,917
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
4,989 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerri
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerri is White at 80.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.2%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Gerri 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 Gerri at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.7% · 4,026
- Black or African American11.2% · 559
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 166
- Two or more races2.4% · 121
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 55
Gender
Gender distribution for Gerri
Out of the 5,463 babies given the name Gerri since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Gerri as a male name
- Ranked #4,160 in 1966
- 5 male births in 1966
- Peak: 1962 (7 births)
Gerri as a female name
- Ranked #15,622 in 2010
- 6 female births in 2010
- Peak: 1958 (226 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerri leans strongly female. 4,919 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 82 male bearers (1.6%).
Popularity
Gerri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gerri from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,792 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gerri 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 Gerri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gerris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Gerri, while Utah, South Carolina, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gerri
The name Gerri is a diminutive form of the name Gerald, which has its origins in the Germanic name Gerwald or Gairwalts. This name is derived from the elements "gair" meaning "spear" and "walts" meaning "rule" or "power." The name can be traced back to the early Middle Ages when it was popular among the Frankish and Germanic tribes.
In the 8th century, the name Gerald was borne by several Frankish nobles, including Gerald of Aurillac, a French nobleman and founder of the Abbey of Aurillac. Another notable bearer of the name was Gerald of Wales, a 12th-century cleric, scholar, and writer who authored works on the topography and history of Wales.
The diminutive form Gerri likely emerged as a nickname or informal variation of Gerald in various regions where the name was popular. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Gerri is found in the 13th-century English records, where a woman named Gerri de Weston is mentioned.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gerri. One of the most famous was Gerri della Rena, an Italian painter and architect who lived in the 15th century and is known for his work on the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua. Another notable Gerri was Gerri Barter, an English soldier who fought in the English Civil War and was part of Oliver Cromwell's army.
In the 20th century, the name Gerri gained some popularity, particularly in the United States. One notable bearer was Gerri Granger, an American actress born in 1904 who appeared in numerous films and television shows. Another was Gerri Santoro, an American singer and actress born in 1935 who had a successful career in musicals and television.
Another notable Gerri was Gerri Hirshey, an American author and journalist born in 1942 who has written extensively on popular culture and music. She is best known for her biographies of musicians such as Tina Turner and Norman Mailer.
Overall, the name Gerri has a long and varied history, with roots in the Germanic languages and early medieval Europe. While not as common as its parent name Gerald, it has been borne by notable individuals throughout history in various fields, from art and architecture to literature and entertainment.
People
Gerri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gerri 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
Gerri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gerri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gerri 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 82,731 US residents.
Is Gerri a common name?
We classify Gerri as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,463 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gerri most popular?
The single biggest year for Gerri was 1958, when 226 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gerri is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gerri in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,989 people with the name Gerri, or 1.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,917 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 Gerri 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 Gerri?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gerri leans strongly female. 4,919 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 82 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Gerri?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gerri is White at 80.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.2%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Gerri most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gerri in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.7% (4,026 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 Gerri in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gerri a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Gerri 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 Gerri still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gerri 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 Gerri 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 Gerri as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Gerri on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.