‘Geert’ is a Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 forename of Germanic

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 origin, equivalent to German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 Gerd

Gerd

In Norse mythology, Gerðr is a jötunn, goddess, and the wife of the god Freyr. Gerðr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; and in the poetry of skalds...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 Gerry

Gerry

Gerry can refer to:*Gerry , an American manufacturer of outdoor sports gear*Gerry , a 2002 film by Gus Van Sant*Gerry , a 2011 biographical film by Alain Desrochers about Gerry Boulet*Gerry, New York, U.S....

. The name is a condensed form of ‘Gerhard’, itself a combination of the Germanic words ‘ger’ (spear) and ‘hard’ (strong or brave) meaning 'Strong or Brave with the Spear'. The name's common female equivalent is 'Geertje'.

The pronunciation of the name varies slightly, depending on whether or not the speaker uses a variety of Dutch which distinguishes between the phonemes /x/ and /ɣ/. While speakers of most northern varieties of Dutch, which do not distinguish between the two phonemes, will pronounce the name as xeːrt, speakers of southern varieties will generally pronounce it as ˈɣeːrt.

Although 'Geert' can be used as a name in its own right, it is often the given name of persons who are formally called Gerard or Gerardus. The latter name refers usually to Saint Gerard of Toul

Gerard of Toul

Saint Gerard of Toul, also Saint Gerald of Toul was a German priest who was appointed bishop of Toul in 963. He ruled for 31 years.Unlike some other saints he was born into a very wealthy, noble family....

 or Saint Gerard Majella

Gerard Majella

Saint Gerard Majella is a Roman Catholic saint. He is the saint whose intercession is requested for children , childbirth, mothers , motherhood, falsely accused people, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano,...

.

Notable people with the name Geert

• Geert Groote
  Geert Groote
  Gerard Groote , otherwise Gerrit or Gerhard Groet, in Latin Gerardus Magnus, was a Dutch preacher and founder of the Brethren of the Common Life and a key figure in the Devotio Moderna movement....
  
   (1340–84), Dutch preacher and founder of the Brethren of the Common Life
• Geertgen tot Sint Jans
  Geertgen tot Sint Jans
  Geertgen tot Sint Jans , also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, Gerrit Gerritsz, Gheertgen, Geerrit, Gheerrit, or any other diminutive form of Gerald, was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Low Countries in the Holy Roman Empire...
  
   (c. 1465 – c. 1495), Dutch painter
• Geert Wilders
  Geert Wilders
  Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
  
  (born 1963), Dutch politician