Gerard
Where Gerard comes from
From Middle English Gerard, from Old French Gerart, from Frankish *Gaiʀahard, from *gaiʀ (“spear”) + *hard(ī) (“hard, brave”).
- Germanic
- 2 syllables
Along the way
- 1886First appearance#959 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
- 1905Gerard Kuiper bornNetherlands-born American astronomer
- 1954Peak, #1771,520 babies named Gerard — more than any year before or since.
- 1967The fadeThe first year with half the peak's births — down to #280.
- 1969Gerard Butler bornScottish actor and film producer
In the dictionary
- A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
- Gerard Butler · Scottish actor and film producer, born 1969
- Gerard Kuiper · Netherlands-born American astronomer, 1905–1973
- Gerard Way · American singer, born 1977
- Gerard Deulofeu · Spanish association football player, born 1994
- Gerard Moreno · Spanish association football player, born 1992
Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.