Given name & surname
Germaine
“one who is sisterly; woman from Germany”·“a man from Germany”·“one who is brotherly”
Germaine is a variant of Germain. Interpretations include “a man from Germany” and “one who is brotherly”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Meaning & origin
What it means
In Latin use, Germaine carries the interpretation “one who is sisterly; woman from Germany.” Germaine is a variant of Germain. Interpretations include “a man from Germany” and “one who is brotherly”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
Germaine is used as a feminine counterpart of Germain.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1895. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Germaine through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 10,274
- 2,364 boys · 7,910 girls
- Most popular year
- 1972
- 250 babies
- 2025
- 13
- #10,028 for boys · #13,789 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +4%
- Steady
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 79% boys.
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,028 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 20.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 157 in 1972. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,459 as a first name in 2020; 1,247 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Germaine’s family of names
In French usage, Germaine has a diminutive in Maimaine. Germaine is a feminine form of Germain. Germaine has an alternative spelling in Jermaine.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Germaine has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
4 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 11
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Germainvariant · English
- Germaynevariant
- Germanevariant
- Maimainediminutive · French
- Germaenavariant
- Germaenevariant
- Germaynavariant
- Germainavariant
Show 3 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Germaine
- Germaine GreerAustralian writer and public intellectual (born 1939)
- Germaine DulacFrench film director (1882-1942)
- Germaine of FoixQueen Consort of Aragon and Infanta of Navarre1488–1536
- Germaine TailleferreFrench composer (1892-1983)
- Germaine TillionFrench anthropologist (1907 - 2008)
- Germaine MasonJamaican-born Olympic high jumper1983–2017
- Germaine de RandamieDutch mixed martial artistborn 1984
- Germaine AcognyFrench-Senegalese choreographerborn 1944
- Madame GrèsFrench grand couturier (1903–1993)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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