Gerda

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Gerda

Gender: Feminine
Language/Origin: Scandinavian, German, Dutch
Etymology:
Gerda is Latinized form of an old Scandinavian name, Gerd (or Gard). It belongs of the wife of the god of fertility, but the exact etymological origin of the name is unknown. It possibly means “stronghold” or “fenced in” or “farm” from the word “garthr,” from which we get the English word “yard.”

In certain cases, Gerda can be considered short for the name Gertrude or as a feminine form fo the name Gerard.

History:
In Norse mythology, Gerda was a frost giant, and the wife of Freyr (the god of fertility).

The name was revived in Germany and Scandinavian in the 19th century. Perhaps it was helped when Hans Christian Anderson used it in his 1845 fairy tale “The Snow Queen.”

Gerd was brought to the United States by Scandinavian and German immigrants in the late 19th century, where it most often was Latinized into Gerda. The name, however, failed to catch on, and had disappeared by the mid-20th century.

Gerd was a popular name in Sweden and Norway from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Pronunciation: gahr-dah.

Diminutives:
German: Gerdi.

Alternates: Gård, Gärd.
Norwegian: Gerd.
German: Gerde.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.004 % named Gerda

Popularity of Gerda:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1880-1889: N/A
1890: 872nd most popular.
1891-1894: N/A
1895: 932nd most popular.
1896-1897: N/A
1898: 920th most popular.
1899: 878th most popular.
1900-1902: N/A
1903: 969th most popular.
1904-1905: N/A
1906: 966th most popular.
1907-1914: N/A
1915: 945th most popular.
1916-2004: N/A

Selected Sources:
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999
The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names, Mcleod and Freedman, 1995
A Dictionary of First Names by Hanks and Hodges, 1990
The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Withycombe, 3rd ed., 1977

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880

Svenska Namn (http://www.svenskanamn.se) - It’s in Swedish.
Statistics Norway (www.ssb.no) - In English and Norwegian.