# Gerlach (surname)

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

A surname from the Germanic languages.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,394 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,784 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 41,756 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (7,181 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Gerlac, Gerlache |

## Etymology

From the German and Dutch surname, a personal name of Germanic origin, composed of *gaiʀ (“spear”) and *laik (“sport, game”), meaning something like "spear-thrower." Compare Garlick, Garlock, Carlock.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Gerlach 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) | 96% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Gerlach in the United States.

## People named Gerlach

- Jim Gerlach, American politician

## Similar surnames

Garlock, Garlick, Gorelik.

## 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.