In 2025, 168 US boys were named Gerald, making it the 1,206th most common boys’ name of the year, down 35 places from #1,171 in 2024. That is 10 fewer than the 178 boys named Gerald in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #19, reached in 1939. The most boys given the name in a single year was 11,484, in 1942. For comparison, it was #765 in 2015 and #34 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Gerald in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 11 babies with the name. In all, 451,351 US babies have been given the name, 0.5% of them girls and 99% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1940s, with 103,738 babies named Gerald.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 2,254 US boys were named Gerald; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 284. In 2025 that was about 1 in 10,167 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Gerald ranked highest in Louisiana in 2025, at #615 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Gerard (58,932 babies since 1880), Gerardo (55,254 babies since 1880), Jerald (26,293 babies since 1880) and Gerold (2,966 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Gerrit, Girard and Gearold are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Gerry and Jerry.