GERDING
The surname Gerding is of German origin and is derived from the personal name Gerhard, which means “brave spear.” It is a patronymic surname, indicating that it was originally used to identify the descendants of a person named Gerhard or of the related name Gerard or Gerald, both of which combine the Germanic elements gari ‘spear’ and either hard ‘brave’ or wald ‘to rule’. The surname therefore conveys the image of a courageous warrior or a commander of arms.
The name evolved over time into the spelling Gerding, a change that is recorded in medieval documents where it appears as Gerdynge and later as Gerdingen. The modern form is particularly common in the north and west of Germany, especially in the states of Lower Saxony, Rhineland‑Palatine, North Rhine‑Westphalia and Hesse. In the Netherlands the surname and its Dutch variants, such as Gerding, Gerdingen, Gerdink and Gertink, are chiefly found in Zeeland and the province of Limburg.
Speakers of Low German and Dutch also recognise a number of related names, including Garting, Gartink, Gerting and Gertink; these are often linked to a person who lived near a place called Gerding, or to a family engaged in the making of spears, as the element ger ‘spear’ suggests. In Scandinavia the surname Geding shares the same root and is connected to a location in Uppland.
In addition to its patronymic origins, the surname displays an occupational facet in several regions of Germany. In the north it has occasionally been recorded as relating to stonemasons or tilemakers, crafts that were essential to the building and maintenance of medieval towns. It is plausible that families bearing the name were recognised as skilled spear‑smiths in the earlier Middle Ages, a notion that gains some support from the name’s etymological meaning.
Earliest documentary evidence of the name dates back to the early twelfth century. The first recorded spelling is that of John Gerard in the Pipe Rolls of Somerset in 1230, during the reign of King Henry the First. Subsequently, medieval records from England (e.g. Henry Jerard of Essex in 1284), and from Germany (Burkhart Gerhart of Heilbronn in 1293) preserve the surname in its early guise.
By the eighteenth century the name had spread beyond the German states through migration. In the United States, the 1880 census recorded sixty‑six individuals with the name in various states, and their descendants have since proliferated in cities from New York to California. In Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and the Netherlands the surname remains present, although in comparatively small numbers. Today the surname is almost exclusively linked with German heritage, but its survivors are found worldwide.
Contemporary data from 2018 indicate that the surname Gerding is the 2 416th most common name in North Rhine‑Westphalia, and it appears for several hundred bearers in Lower Saxony, Schleswig‑Holstein and Saxony‑Anhalt. The global population of those who carry the name is modest, but it remains an emblem of endurance and the persistence of German cultural identity.
The name appears occasionally in the public domain through figures of German descent who have settled abroad; for example the American television personality Sherri Shepherd, whose lineage traces back to German ancestors bearing the surname, has brought some visibility to the name in recent years.
Typical given names associated with the Gerding surname
Male
- Klaus
Female
- Barbara
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Gerding in...
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There are approximately 17 people named Gerding in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Fewer than one in a million people in Britain are named Gerding.
