The Gerhard surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 2,584 people carried this name — #12,068 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 113,600 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (2,596).
What the name means
The meaning of the Gerhard surname
A surname originating as a patronymic.
Inherited from Old High German Gērhart, from Proto-West Germanic *Gaiʀahard, from *gaiʀ (“spear”) + *hard(ī) (“brave, hard”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Gerhard» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
416 people named Gerhard live in Switzerland.
They live in 17 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Aargau.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 193 people named Gerhard.
16 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 12 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
39 people named Gerhard have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 54 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 4 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Lublin.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
35 people named Gerhard is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Gerhard in American newspapers,
1904–1912.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 49,501 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Gerhard,
with a public archive behind them.
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Frank Gerhard d. 2015 · politician
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Heinrich Gerhard d. 1585 · artist
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Georg Gerhard d. 1633 · pedagogue
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Maria Christina Gerhard d. 1718
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Charlotta Gerhard d. 1900
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Siegfried Gerhard 1200– · politician
Wikidata (CC0) · 7 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Gerhard.
- Gere 848 · U.S. census
- Gereau 293 · U.S. census
- Geremia 697 · U.S. census
- Gerez 242 · U.S. census
- Gergen 707 · U.S. census
- Gerges 1,016 · U.S. census
- Gerhardt 5,007 · U.S. census
- Gerhart 4,319 · U.S. census
- Geri 218 · U.S. census
- Gerig 1,057 · U.S. census
- Gerin 129 · U.S. census
- Gering 1,045 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Gerhard is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.