Girl · Germanic, through English
Geraldine
Say it: JER-ul-deen
Meaning
From Gerald (ger 'spear' and wald 'rule'); first used by the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, for a woman of the FitzGerald family.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
A poetic coinage of the 16th century that became a common given name in the early 20th century.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1930s
In the United States
- 211,526 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1931, about 1 in 197 girls
- 97 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
| French | Géraldine |
|---|---|
| Italian | Geraldina |
Famous bearers
- Geraldine Ferraro, American politician
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.