# Gearin (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/gearin/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 721 |
| US rank (2010) | 31,994 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 428,218 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.4% (724 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

The surname Gearin and variations thereof likely arose independently multiple times in Western Europe. In Ireland, it is probably derived from Ó Gearáin, perhaps a diminutive of the Old Irish, “gér,” meaning “sharp,” “intelligent,” and “piercing.” In England and continental Europe, Gearin may variously derive from “guerre” meaning “war” or “gār” and “geirr” which mean “spear,” and which share their etymology with Old Irish, “gér” through from Proto-Celtic *gaisos, and Proto-Germanic *gaizaz. Both roots have cognates in Old English, Old French, and Old Norse, which may have resulted in contemporaneous families with non-shared ancestries to adopt the surname. Prior to the standardization of English spelling, it is likely that unrelated families in the same region went by phonetically similar but etymologically distinct surnames resulting in homophone and heteronym “Gearin’s”.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Gearin in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 94% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Gearin in the United States.

## People named Gearin

- John M. Gearin, American politician (1851-1930)

## Similar surnames

Gerena, Geren, Guarino, Guerin, Gran, Garon, Garn, Green, Graham, Greene, Grimm, Giron.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.