girl's name
Geraldine
JER-ul-deen
- Origin Germanic
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 9
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 263,309
Northern Ireland
#448
2010 births
Geraldine was invented in a 1537 love poem — the Earl of Surrey coined it for Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, calling her the Fair Geraldine. It is the earliest datable literary coinage on this site.
- Geraldine is a name of Germanic origin.
- Peaked in 1930, when 5,471 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 45,417 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 3.
Geraldine over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 192 |
| 1890s | 758 |
| 1900s | 2,589 |
| 1910s | 19,030 |
| 1920s | 48,195 |
| 1930s | 50,267 |
| 1940s | 48,136 |
| 1950s | 24,294 |
| 1960s | 9,824 |
| 1970s | 2,232 |
| 1980s | 1,583 |
| 1990s | 1,198 |
| 2000s | 1,417 |
| 2010s | 1,719 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 663 |
What Geraldine means
Geraldine means rule of the spear, inherited from Gerald. The Germanic elements are a word for a spear and one meaning rule, so both halves describe command in war.
Where Geraldine comes from
Geraldine was made by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, in a sonnet written around 1537 to Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, whom he styled the Fair Geraldine after her family name — the FitzGeralds descending from Gerald of Windsor. Surrey, who introduced the sonnet form to English and was executed at thirty in 1547, thereby coined a name from a surname from a given name. Gerald itself is the Germanic Gerwald, ger, a spear, joined to wald, rule. At roughly 1537 this is the earliest coinage we can date on this site, predating Pamela by some forty years and Vanessa by nearly two centuries.
Geraldine in use
Geraldine peaked in the United States in 1930, when 5,471 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 2438th in the United States on 73 births and 6596th in England and Wales, across 263,309 lifetime births in two of the seven markets we track. It joins Pamela, Vanessa, Amanda and Wendy in the small group of names whose invention can be traced to a specific text, and it is the oldest of them.
How popular is Geraldine?
In 2025, Geraldine was given to 73 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Geraldine is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Geraldine is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Géraldine | Géraldine is a rare spelling of Geraldine, written with an acute accent and recorded about 7,735 times, mostly in France. | 7,735 |
Names that peaked alongside Geraldine
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Geraldine also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Geraldine over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Geraldine
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Geraldine in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Geraldine
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Geraldine — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Geraldine
What does the name Geraldine mean?
Rule of the spear, inherited from Gerald.
Who invented the name Geraldine?
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, around 1537, in a sonnet to Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald whom he called the Fair Geraldine.
Is Geraldine the feminine of Gerald?
Effectively, though it was built from the FitzGerald surname rather than formed from the given name directly.
How popular is Geraldine?
2438th in the United States, down from a 1930 peak of 5,471 births.
Is Geraldine a girl's or a boy's name?
Geraldine is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Geraldine?
Geraldine has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Geraldine?
Geraldine is usually shortened to Gerry, Dina and Geri.
Is Geraldine a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Geraldine currently ranks #2,438 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.