Gertrude
About Gertrude
Could cute nickname Gertie, remembered as cute five-year-old Drew Barrymore in E.T., revive the long shunned Gertrude?
It's tempting to dismiss Gertrude as a name on its way through the door marked Out Forever, except that its long and honorable pedigree--as a goddess in Norse mythology, as the gentle and mystical Saint Gertrude the Great, and another St. Gertrude who is the patron of cats, and its use by Shakespeare for Hamlet's (not exactly exemplary) mother--earns it a place on the permanent roster. It has also been borne by such varied figures as writer Gertrude Stein, swimming champ Gertrude Ederle, British stage star Gertrude Lawrence, and arts patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.
The pinnacle of fashion a century ago, Gertrude reached as high as Number 23 in 1900, but dropped off the list completely in 1966.
Pronounced GER-trood.
As of October 2026, Gertrude ranked #6632 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #22 in 1906.
Editor's take: The name Gertrude is a girl's name of German origin meaning "strength of a spear".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | #4,115 | 36 | 20.3 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | #4,196 | 34 | 20.3 |
| 2020 | #4,291 | 32 | 19.8 |
| 2021 | #4,544 | 30 | 18.3 |
| 2022 | #4,405 | 32 | 19.5 |
| 2023 | #4,491 | 31 | 19.3 |
| 2024 | #4,683 | 29 | 17.9 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gertrude.
- Mildred
- Minnette
- Edna
- Maryellen
- Thelma
- Ethel
- Doris
- Francine
- Hilda
- Geraldine
- Edwina
- Jemima
- Gladys
- Joan
- Prudence
- Maud
- Phyllis
- Bernadette
- Lois
- Alberta
Gertrude on lists
Famous Gertrudes
- Saint Gertrude the Great
German Benedictine mystic and theologian
- Saint Gertrude of Nivelles
Belgian abbess
- Gertrude of Hohenburg
Queen consort of Rudolph I of Germany
- Gertrude of Merania
Queen consort of Andrew II of Hungary
- Gertrude of Bavaria and Saxony
Queen consort of Canute VI of Denmark
- Gertrude Stein
American novelist
- Gertrude Chandler Warner
American children's novelist
- Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
American novelist
- Gertrude Jekyll
English garden designer
- Gertrude Bambrick
American silent film actress
- Gertrude Berg (born Tillie Edelstein)
American actress
- Gertrude Belle Elion
American biochemist and Nobel Prize winner
- Gertrude Lawrence (born Gertrude Alice Dagmar Klasen)
English actress and singer
- Gertrude Mabel Barrows Bennett
American novelist
- Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell
English writer and spy
- Gertrude Caroline Ederle
American Olympic swimmer
- Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
American sculptor and art patron
- Gertrude Modora Bryan
American actress
- Gertrude Astor
American actress
- Gertrude Abercrombie
American painter
Gertrude in pop culture
- Gertrude
Hamlet's mother in Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
- Gertrude "Gigi" Hollingsworth
character in TV's "Wizards of Waverly Place"
- Gertrude Lescot
character in "Sims" series
- "Gertrude McFuzz
" Dr. Seuss book
- Gertrude "Gert" Yorkes aka Arsenic
character in Marvel's Runaway comics
- Gertrude Von Harp
character in G. A. Henty's, By Pike and Dyke
- Candace Gertrude Flynn
character in "Phineas and Ferb"
- Gertrude "Mama Gertrude" Acachalla
A character from the YouTube channel VenturianTale
- Gertrude Trinke
character in the film Jersey Girl
- Gertrude "Trudy" Hardy
Fenton Hardy's sister and The Hardy Boys' aunt from "The Hardy Boys" series
- Gertrude Robinson
ex,archivist on "The Magnus Archives"