Gerald
About Gerald
Both a saint's name and a presidential one via Gerald Ford—who was born Leslie—Gerald is a quintessential 1930s-40s name, when it ranked as high as Number 19. Hence all those nice middle-aged and senior Jerrys we've known and loved. Gerald has always been popular in Ireland, accounting for the prevalence of Fitzgeralds there. Though not considered stylish, Gerald remains on the popularity charts. Cousin Gerard has a similar profile, Geraldo is the well-used Spanish version, and Geraldine is the most promising of the family, in line to follow the path of Josephine to imminent revival.
Pronounced JER-uld.
As of October 2026, Gerald ranked #1206 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #19 in 1936.
Editor's take: The name Gerald is a boy's name of English origin meaning "ruler with the spear".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #810 | 281 | 146.3 |
| 2015 | #765 | 312 | 162.8 |
| 2016 | #810 | 284 | 149.7 |
| 2017 | #825 | 271 | 146.4 |
| 2018 | #895 | 242 | 133.2 |
| 2019 | #892 | 245 | 136.5 |
| 2020 | #955 | 230 | 133.3 |
| 2021 | #1,010 | 217 | 124 |
| 2022 | #1,065 | 206 | 118 |
| 2023 | #1,031 | 212 | 123.9 |
| 2024 | #1,167 | 178 | 103.3 |
| 2025 | #1,206 | 168 | 98.4 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gerald.
- Leslie
- Frederik
- Melvin
- Stuart
- Karl
- Milton
- Maurice
- Ronald
- Reginald
- Irwin
- Rudolph
- Benedick
- Hubert
- Gérard
- Stanford
- Frederic
- Bill
- Leroy
- Roderick
- Nigel
Gerald on lists
Famous Geralds
- Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey III
professional baseball catcher for the San Francisco Giants
- Gerald Earl Gillum
rapper known as G,Eazy
- Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford (born Leslie Lynch King
Jr.), 38th U.S. President
- Gerald Jermaine Wallace
American basketball player
- Gerald Green
American basketball player
- Gerald Lind Sensabaugh
American NFL football player
- Gerald "Gerry" Goffin
American songwriter/lyricist
- Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan
American jazz saxophonist
- Gerald Lee "Mac" McRaney
American actor
- Trevell Gerald Coleman aka G. Dep
American rapper
- Gerald Maurice Edelman
American biologist; winner of the Nobel Prize
- Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco
American pro wrestler
- Gerald of Wales
archdeacon of Brecon and chronicler of his times
- Gerald Anthony Scarfe
English cartoonist and illustrator
- Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer
British,born TV personality, attorney, and former Cincinnati mayor & news anchor
- Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor
American actor
- Gerald A. "Jerry" Paulsen
founder of Jerry's Enterprises, Inc.
Gerald in pop culture
- Gerald Winters
character from TV series "NYPD Blue"
- Gerald O'Hara
Scarlett's father in "Gone with the Wind"
- Gerald Martin Johanssen
Arnold's best friend on TV series "Hey Arnold!"
- Gerald Summers
character in G. A. Henty's "Under Drake's Flag"
- Gerald Kingsley
character on TV's "Grandfathered," played by Josh Peck
- Gerald
sea lion in Pixar's "Finding Dory"
- Gerald
character from "The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty"
- Gerald Crich
character from "Women in Love" by D.H. Lawrence
- Gerald Broflovski
Kyle’s dad in “South Park”
Variations & nicknames
- GirladoItalian
- GerekPolish
- GearaldIrish Gaelic
- GerhartGerman
- GellertHungarian
- GéraldFrench
- GearoidIrish
- JarelScandinavian
- GaroldsRussian
- GerritDutch
- GéraldeFrench
- GellartHungarian
- GiraudFrench
- GerhardGerman
- GaroldRussian
- GirauldFrench
- JarellScandinavian
- GaraldRussian
- GearóidinIrish Gaelic
- HerradoSpanish
- GéaudFrench
- JeraldoSpanish
- GeraldoSpanish