# Gervase (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gervase/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “spear”, “valley”, “servant” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 202 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 197 / 5 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

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.

## What it means

Gervase is grouped under sword.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1924 | 5 | 5,388 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1924 | 7 | 3,634 |
| 1925 | 11 | 2,651 |
| 1926 | 6 | 3,889 |
| 1928 | 8 | 3,191 |
| 1929 | 7 | 3,362 |
| 1930 | 16 | 1,918 |
| 1931 | 6 | 3,541 |
| 1932 | 7 | 3,202 |
| 1933 | 7 | 3,112 |
| 1934 | 8 | 2,826 |
| 1935 | 5 | 3,863 |
| 1936 | 9 | 2,515 |
| 1939 | 6 | 3,253 |
| 1945 | 5 | 3,491 |
| 1960 | 5 | 4,256 |

## In other languages

- Catalan: Gervasi
- Dutch: Gervasius
- Esperanto: Gervasio
- French: Gervais
- Greek: Γερβάσιος
- Hungarian: Gyárfás
- Italian: Gervasio
- Polish: Gerwazy
- Portuguese: Gervásio
- Romanian: Ghervasie
- Russian: Герва́сий
- Spanish: Gervasio
- Ukrainian: Герва́сій

## People named Gervase

- Gervase of Tilbury, English canonist and writer
- Gervase of Canterbury, English chronicler
- Gervase de Peyer, English clarinetist and conductor (1926–2017)
- Gervase Markham, English poet and writer
- Alex Chalk, British politician (born 1976)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.