Gertrude

Did you know?

A few things about Gertrude you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Gertrude

Gertrude Stein

American author (1874–1946)

Choose Gertrude and your child shares a first name with Gertrude Stein, an American author. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Gertrude, like who?” Gertrude Stein's Wikipedia article is available in 82 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Gertrude Stein on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Carl Van Vechten, Public domain (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 94,340 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Gertrude, 17 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Gertrude would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryGertrude has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Gertrudes, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1906, when it ranked #22. Today it's #6,546, so it could be due a comeback.
• 🍂TrendGertrude has slipped 2,283 places over the last five years and now sits at #6,546. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 💬MeaningIn Germanic, Gertrude means “spear strength”.

About the name Gertrude

Gertrude is a girl name meaning “spear strength”. It has 8 letters and 2 syllables, starting with G and ending in “-ude”. US birth records list Gertrude for girls from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1906, when it ranked #22 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #6,546, with 17 babies.