In the current wave of retro first names, some are making a strong comeback while others remain completely absent from announcements. One of them, female, came from a Germanic etymology warrior, however, peaked at the beginning of the 20th century before almost completely dying out. In France, the INSEE curves even indicate 0 births in 2025 for this first name.
This first name is Gertrude. Its meaning is broken down into two roots: “ger” or “gari” for the “spear”, and “trud” or “drud” for fidelity or strength, according to onomastic sources such as Nominis. Ancestry.fr also speaks of a “spear force” or a woman “powerful with a spear”. The image of “loyal spear” sums up this mixture of combativeness and attachment well.
Germanic origin: Gertrude, the loyal spear of the Middle Ages
Gertrude comes from Old High German and spread to Germanic and Dutch countries. This first name was widely used in Europe and enjoyed “notable popularity during the Middle Ages”. It frequently appears in noble families, which reinforces its image as a solid, almost armed first name, designed for contexts of war and faith.
In Christian tradition, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, a 7th century abbess in Belgium, plays a key role in this diffusion. She is associated with the protection of rodents and diseases, which made her a widely invoked saint. We can also cite Gertrude of Helfta, known as Gertrude the Great, a 13th century nun, whose feast day is set for November 16 in the Roman calendar, while Saint Gertrude of Nivelles is honored on March 17.
From Shakespeare to Gertrude Stein: a very cultural first name
The first name Gertrude also crosses literature. In tragedy Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Gertrude is the mother of the Danish prince. This complex figure, caught between loyalty and suspicion of betrayal, left a lasting mark on the Anglo-Saxon imagination. The first name thus retains a dramatic, almost royal coloring, which contrasts with its current absence in French maternity wards.
Closer to us, Gertrude Stein, an American writer from the beginning of the 20th century, became a figure of literary modernism. Gertrude Bell, a British explorer and diplomat, played a key role in the creation of the modern Iraqi state. Gertrude was among the most given female first names in the United States in 1890, which shows how common this first name was outside France.
Why Gertrude was erased from the birth registers
In France, INSEE data places Gertrude’s peak in 1912, with 127 births that year. Wikipedia still lists 3 little Gertrude in 2019, but the figure then drops to 0 births in 2025. In a century, this medieval first name has gone from the status of a frequent choice to that of a virtual ghost in the civil registry.
Gertrude is therefore a very rare first name in the 21st century, placed in the category of vintage or obsolete first names. In a landscape where other old first names are finding favor with parents, Gertrude remains dormant. For those who dare to bring it out, it would nevertheless offer a singular combination: a strong sound, an imagination of medieval first name and this sense of “loyal spear” which evokes fidelity up to the point of combat.