Gerard

Gerard is a male forename of Proto-Germanic origin,[1] variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this case, those constituents are gari > ger- (meaning 'spear') and -hard (meaning 'hard/strong/brave').

For other uses, see Gerard (disambiguation).
Gerard
PronunciationUK: /ˈdʒɛrɑːrd/, US: /dʒəˈrɑːrd/
French: [ʒeʁaʁ]
Old French: [dʒerɑrd]
Gendermale
Origin
Word/nameGermanic
Meaningspear-hard
Region of origincommon in regions where Germanic and/or Romance languages are spoken
Other names
Related namesGérard, Gerardo, Gerd, Gerhard, Gerhardt, Gerhardus, Gerrit, Gerry, Geert, Gert, Gertje, Gherardo, Girard, Guérard, Jerry

Common forms of the name are Gerard (English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch, Polish and Catalan); Gerrard (English, Scottish, Irish); Gerardo (Italian, and Spanish); Geraldo (Portuguese); Gherardo (Italian); Gherardi (Northern Italian, now only a surname); Gérard (variant forms Girard and Guérard, now only surnames, French); Gearóid (Irish); Gerhardt and Gerhart/Gerhard/Gerhardus (German, Dutch, and Afrikaans); Gellért (Hungarian); Gerardas (Lithuanian) and Gerards/Ģirts (Latvian); Γεράρδης (Greece). A few abbreviated forms are Gerry and Jerry (English); Gerd (German) and Gert (Afrikaans and Dutch); Gerrit (Afrikaans and Dutch); Gertjie (Afrikaans); Geert (Dutch) and Жоро (Bulgarian).

The introduction of the name 'Gerard' into the English language took place following the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Its original forms in Old French were “Gerard, Gerart” [dʒeʁɑʁ] and “Girart”.[1]

Patronymic surnames derived from a form of Gerard include Garrard, Garritsen, Gerard, Geertsen, Gerardet, Gerardi, Gerdes, Gerrard, Gerretsen, Gerrits(e), Gerritsen, Ghiraldi, and Giraud.

The name Gerald, while phonetically similar to Gerard, derives from a slightly different set of constituents: ger and wald (meaning 'rule/lead').

First name

Gerard is a common name; for a complete list see All pages with titles beginning with Gerard. Some better known people named Gerard include:

Academics
  • Gerard Bolland (1854–1922), Dutch philosopher and radical
  • Gerard Clauson (1891–1974), English Orientalist
  • Gerard of Cremona (1114–1187), Italian translator of scientific Arabic works
  • Gerard De Geer (1858–1943), Swedish geologist
  • Gerard Heymans (1857–1930), Dutch philosopher and psychologist
  • Gerard Hendrik Hofstede (born 1928), Dutch social psychologist
  • Gerard 't Hooft (born 1946), Dutch theoretical physicist
  • Gerard de Jode (1509–1591), Dutch cartographer, engraver and publisher
  • Gerard Krefft (1830–1881), Australian zoologist
  • Gerard de Kremer (1512–1594), Flemish cartographer, geographer and cosmographer
  • Gerard Kuiper (1905–1973), Dutch–American astronomer
  • Gerard Labuda (1916–2010), Polish historian
  • Gerard van der Leeuw (1890–1950), Dutch historian and philosopher of religion
  • Gerard K. O'Neill (1927–1992), American physicist and space activist
  • Gerard Salton (1927–1995), German–born American computer scientist
  • Gerard van Swieten (1700–1772), Dutch–Austrian physician
Arts
Music
  • Gerard Joling (born 1960), Dutch pop singer
  • Gerard Mortier (1943–2014), Belgian opera director and administrator
  • Gerard Nolan (1946–1992), American rock drummer
  • Gerard Schwarz (born 1947), American conductor
  • Gerard Way (born 1977), American singer-songwriter and comic book writer
Theater and film
  • Gerard Depardieu (born 1948), French actor, filmmaker, and vineyard owner
  • Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather (1887–1963), American movie actor known as "Monte Blue"
  • Gerard Butler (born 1969), Scottish actor
  • Gerard Damiano (1928–2008), American director of adult films
  • Gerard Marenghi (born 1920), American actor
  • Gerard McSorley (born 1950), Irish actor
  • Gerard Murphy (Irish actor) (1948–2013), Northern Irish actor
  • Gerard Kenneth Tierney (1924–1985), American TV and western actor known as Scott Brady
Visual arts
Writing
  • Gerard F. Conway (born 1952), American writer of comic books and television shows
  • Gerard Malanga (born 1943), American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.
  • Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889), British poet
  • Gerard Reve (1923–2006), Dutch writer
  • Gerard Walschap (1898–1989), Belgian writer
Business
  • Gerard Adriaan Heineken (1841–1893), Dutch founder of Heineken beer
  • Gerard Kleisterlee (born 1946), Dutch business executive, CEO of Philips
  • Gerard Philips (1858–1942), Dutch co–founder of "Philips"
  • Gerard Reynst (1560s–1615), Dutch merchant and Governor–General of the Dutch East Indies
Crime
  • Gerard Conlon (1954–2014), wrongfully imprisoned Northern Irishman, subject of "In the Name of the Father,"
  • Gerard John Schaefer (1946–1995), American serial killer
Medieval rulers
Military
Politics
  • Gerard Adams (born 1948), Irish politician, leader of the Sinn Feín party
  • Gerard Batliner (1928–2008), Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
  • Gerard Batten (born 1954), English UKIP politician
  • Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 1956), New Zealand government minister
  • Gerard Cooreman (1852–1926), Belgian Prime Minister
Religion
Sports

Last name
"Gerard (surname)" redirects here. For more people with this name, see Gérard § As a surname, and Gerhard § Surname.

Fictional characters

See also

References
  1. "Origins of our names". Liverpool Echo. 28 November 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
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