Jerald is a masculine American given name variant of Gerald, a German name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ger- ("spear") and suffix -wald ("rule"). Jerald was initially brought to Great Britain by the Normans, along with masculine variants Jerold or Jerrold, and the feminine nicknames, including Jeri.
From the Ecclesiastic Late Latin Jeremias, a cognate of the Hebrew Yirmeyahu, a name derived from yirmeyāh (the Lord loosens, God will uplift). The name is borne in the Bible by a 6th- or 7th-century B.C. Hebrew prophet whose story and prophecies are recorded in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah.
