Gervase

Boys' name

Possibly spear

Gervase has been given to 202 babies in the U.S. since 1915. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1930, with 16 recorded.

Babies named Gervase, 1960

1 in 831,000

Gervase over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Gervase: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly spear

Germanic languages

What Gervase means

Gervase may mean “spear”, associated with gaizaz.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Name of an early saint, Latin Gervasius, of unknown meaning, possibly Latinized from some Germanic name: Proto-Germanic *gaizaz (“spear”), second element of uncertain meaning, possibly vallis (“valley”), Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”), or the Brythonic name for the river Isara.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Gervase (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Gervase is used in English. Its origins include Germanic languages.

Gervase comes through Latin Gervasius, Proto-Germanic *gaizaz and Proto-Celtic *wastos.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 197 boys were recorded with the name Gervase between 1915 and 1960. Its highest annual count was 16 in 1930; its best national rank was #1,918 in 1930.

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Gervase between 1924 and 1924. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1924; its best national rank was #5,386 in 1924.

How common is Gervase?

Gervase had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1960, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1960: 1 in 831,000; 5 of 4,153,934 births
Among boys only: 1 in 426,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1960: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 575,859 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Gervase sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1960 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 575,859 children born in 1960 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Gervase. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Gervases were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Gervase was born before 1925 — so the typical Gervase is around 100 today.

Median birth year: 1925; About 100 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 39.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 12.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 39.6% of all recorded uses (78).

Is Gervase rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1930 (16)
Years since peak: 95; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 42.2% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,918; 1930

Where Gervase is used

Across 1910–2025, Gervase was most concentrated in Pennsylvania — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,834,433 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Pennsylvania1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Gervase has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Gervase around the world

Where Gervase ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

South Australia
1947–1947
#366
in 1947

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Gervase by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,918; 1930
Peak year: 1930; 16 that year
First recorded: 1915
Last recorded: 1960
All-time count: 197
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #5,386; 1924
Peak year: 1924; 5 that year
First recorded: 1924
Last recorded: 1924
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Gervase

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Gershom Gerrard Gerhart Germany Geralt Gerritt Gerrald Gerber Gershon Germain Geremiah Gerrett Gergory Gerrell Gervis Gerado Gervonta Gerrick Gerell Gerron Gerrad Geraldo Tyrease Geremy

Sibling names for Gervase

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Billy Donald Ardith Roma Marvel Bobby Socorro Josefina

For a brother

Carrol Normand Mary Frances Dudley Delmar Sanford Jules

Explore around Gervase

Top names of 1930, Gervase's peak year The 1930s in full Other names that peaked in 1930 Boys' names starting with G