Gertrude

• I had a music teacher from Austria named Gertrude. She was awesome, and I like the name. It has a lot of nice nicknames: Gertie is adorable (think Drew Barrymore's character in E.T., Trudy is nice as well. Rudi and Tru are a little more modern sounding. My teacher was called Trüde (TREU da)
• is a strong yet gentle name. Someone who has a great deal of confidence but is not in-your-face. I picture a Gertrude being a very kind, nurturing person, without getting excessively so. I prefer the nickname Gertie (it's adorable) over Trudy. I would love to use Gertrude for one of my children, but not only does my husband hate it, everyone else does, too.  Can't wait to see if it comes back around in my life time!
• I can see this name coming back into style. It is strong and by the time I start having kids, will probably sound not too much like someone's great-grandmother.  
• You're not going to believe it, but I'm really fond of the name Gertrude. No, really, I'm serious. Unfortunately, my wife feels the same way as you. There's no way she'll let us use it, which is a shame, because I think a girl who was into being unique could really run with it! I see this as the ultimate litmus test of a true personality, if you could be happy going through life as the only "Gertie" left on the planet. And of course, if she wasn't the type that could bear the weight of being known as "Dirty Gertie", she could opt for the much safer "Trudy", which is kind of pretty.

Gertrude is derived from the Germanic elements gar meaning "spear" and thruth "strength."

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