Gertrud
One of the rarest names on this list: fewer than 60 people in Poland carry it, and no girl has been given it this century. Germanic at root, from words meaning "spear of strength".
Gertrud Pronunciation
Gertrud is pronounced GERT-root (/ˈgɛrtrut/).
What Gertrud means
Where Gertrud comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Gertrud is built from two old Germanic pieces. Ger means spear. Þrūþ means strength. Joined, they give the name its plain sense: spear of strength, or siła włóczni in Polish.
The best documented bearer is Gertrude of Nivelles, a Frankish abbess who died in 659. The Church keeps her feast on 17 March, and she became the patron invoked against mice and rats. In German and Scandinavian records the name held its place for centuries.
On a Polish class register the name would show in its variant form, Gertruda, while the diminutive Gerda goes about on its own. Gerda is the girl who walks north to rescue her friend in Andersen's Snow Queen. The spear sits inside all of them, from Gertruda down to the short, bright Gerda.
How many people are named Gertrud
1 in 395506 women in Poland is named Gertrud. 59 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4809 among female names.
Gertrud as a middle name
Gertrud is a first name for 59 women in Poland and a middle name for another 64, a 48/52 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 852nd, between Fortunata (64) and Henrietta (64).
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#850 Filipa64
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#851 Fortunata64
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#852 Gertrud64
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#853 Henrietta64
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#854 Heronima64