Name In Coffin: Gertrude

Gertrude is a female name of old german origin that means "strength of a spear". Gertrude is the name of a saint, Saint Gertrude The Great, who is pictured above - she wrote a book called The Revelations of Saint Gertrude, which talked about the revelations she received from Jesus. Obviously it has some more modern bearers, actress Gertrude Lawrence and writer Gertrude Stein for example. In literature, we have Queen Gertrude from Hamlet, who was Hamlet's mother and also the queen of Denmark.

Gertrude is a name that a lot of us have on our family tree, as it was extremely common 100 years ago or so. These days, it would be an odd experience to meet a toddler carrying this name. Let's see the SSA graph:

Gertrude was already very high back in 1880, which is the first year on the SSA archive, it ranked at #24. The name hovered around that spot and achieved its peak of #22 in 1906. After that, it slowly descended, having a rather great run in the top 100, that lasted up until 1930. Its final year in the ranking? 1965. So its been pretty much 50 years since its graced the chart, and going by the numbers of 2013, is unlikely to resurface anytime soon. And by soon I mean at least the next 10 years.

Why is it so rejected these days? Its hard to pinpoint the problem, maybe its just inherently associated with grannies - but that hasn't stopped several fusty names from making an unexpected comeback. Personally, the reason why I dont like this name is the "er" sound. It's also the reason why I don't like names such as Earl, Albert, Herbert, Herman, Myrtle, Bertha, etc. But this is just my perspective, there are definitely more issues that others might have with Gertrude.

Its not all bad things though, Gertrude does have some pluses. You want a strong powerful girl name? This one has just the meaning you're looking for. Want a cute nickname? Trudy is just the type of diminutive that parents are embracing these days. Want something unique? Gertrude is likely the be the only one in her class and even the entire neighborhood. Do these balance out the negatives? Maybe not. But it's definitely something to ponder. While I do believe Gertrude is stuck in the coffin for now, there's no telling whether she'll be a stylish choice in 2050, only time will tell.

What do you think of Gertrude? Retro chic or frumpy grandma?