Gerard

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Gerard
Pronunciation
Gerrit, Gerry, Geert, Gert, Gertje, Gherardo, Girard, Guérard, Jerry

Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin,[1] variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this case, those constituents are gari > ger- (meaning 'spear') and -hard (meaning 'hard/strong/brave').

Common forms of the name are Gerard (English, Scottish, Irish,

Afrikaans); Gellért (Hungarian); Gerardas (Lithuanian) and Gerards/Ģirts (Latvian); Γεράρδης (Greece). A few abbreviated forms are Gerry and Jerry (English); Gerd (German) and Gert (Afrikaans and Dutch); Gerrit (Afrikaans and Dutch); Gertjie (Afrikaans); Geert (Dutch) and Жоро[citation needed] (Bulgarian
).

The introduction of the name 'Gerard' into the English language took place following the

Norman conquest of England in 1066. Its original forms in Old French were “Gerard, Gerart” [dʒeʁɑʁ] and “Girart”.[1]

Patronymic surnames derived from a form of Gerard include Garrard, Garritsen, Gerard, Geertsen, Gerardet, Gerardi, Gerdes, Gerrard, Gerretsen, Gerrits(e), Gerritsen, Ghiraldi, and Giraud.

The name

phonetically
similar to Gerard, derives from a slightly different set of constituents: ger and wald (meaning 'rule/lead').

First name

Academics

Arts

Music

  • Gerard Joling (born 1960), Dutch pop singer
  • Gerard Mortier (1943–2014), Belgian opera director and administrator
  • Gerard Nolan
    (1946–1992), American rock drummer
  • Gerard Schwarz (born 1947), American conductor
  • Gerard Way (born 1977), American singer-songwriter and comic book writer

Theater and film

  • Gerard Depardieu
    (born 1948), French actor, filmmaker, and vineyard owner
  • Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather
    (1887–1963), American movie actor known as "Monte Blue"
  • Gerard Butler (born 1969), Scottish actor
  • Gerard Damiano (1928–2008), American director of adult films
  • Gerard Marenghi
    (1920–2018), American actor
  • Gerard McCarthy (born 1981), Northern Irish actor
  • Gerard McSorley (born 1950), Irish actor
  • Gerard Murphy (Irish actor)
    (1948–2013), Northern Irish actor
  • Gerard Kenneth Tierney
    (1924–1985), American TV and western actor known as Scott Brady

Visual arts

Writing

  • Gerard F. Conway
    (born 1952), American writer of comic books and television shows
  • Gerard Malanga (born 1943), American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.
  • Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889), British poet
  • Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855), nom-de-plume of French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie
  • Gerard Reve (1923–2006), Dutch writer
  • Gerard Walschap (1898–1989), Belgian writer

Business

  • Gerard Adriaan Heineken
    (1841–1893), Dutch founder of Heineken beer
  • Gerard Kleisterlee (born 1946), Dutch business executive, CEO of Philips
  • Gerard Philips (1858–1942), Dutch co–founder of "Philips"
  • Gerard Reynst (1560s–1615), Dutch merchant and Governor–General of the Dutch East Indies

Crime

  • Gerard Conlon
    (1954–2014), wrongfully imprisoned Northern Irishman, subject of "In the Name of the Father,"
  • Gerard John Schaefer (1946–1995), American serial killer
  • Twinbrook, Belfast

Medieval rulers

Military

Politics

Religion

Sports

Last name

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Origins of our names". Liverpool Echo. 28 November 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
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