Germaine

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Germaine is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name134K records spelled Germaine12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia

  Languages: English, Dutch, Western Frisian

  Also written Gërmãiñe, Germainé, Gérmaine

• Russian given name278 records spelled Germaine6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, United States, Ukraine, Cameroon

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Жермена, Гермаине

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Germaine is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A surname transferred from the given name, a variant of Germain.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, a female given name, masculine equivalent Germain

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Féminin de Germain, du latin germanus « né du même père/même mère »; fête associée aux saints Germain.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Forme féminine de Germain; origine germanique, signifie « de même sang ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Féminin de Germain, du latin *germanus*.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 130 years between 1895–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Madame de Staëlb. 1766FRnot in their usual nameGenevan-French author (1766-1817)
• Germaine Dulacb. 1882FRFrench film director (1882-1942)
• Germaine Tailleferreb. 1892FRFrench composer (1892-1983)
• Madame Grèsb. 1903FRnot in their usual nameFrench grand couturier (1903–1993)
• Germaine Tillionb. 1907FRFrench anthropologist (1907 - 2008)
• Emmanuelle Rivab. 1927FRnot in their usual nameFrench actress (1927-2017)
• Caterina Valenteb. 1931FRnot in their usual nameItalian-French multilingual singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress (1931–2024)
• Germaine Greerb. 1939AUAustralian writer and public intellectual (born 1939)
• Annette Messagerb. 1943FRnot in their usual nameFrench artist (born 1943)
• Ali Landryb. 1973USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 639 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Germaine?

We estimate roughly 5.0 thousand people bear Germaine (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Germaine have the most bearers?

Germaine is most frequently recorded in France, where it is most often spelled germaine.

How common is Germaine compared with other names?

In France, Germaine is the 170th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Germaine a male or female name?

Germaine is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Germaine mean?

Recorded meaning: Feminine of Germain, from Latin Germanus, 'brotherly'.