The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gjerdrum farm (Norse Gerðarvin).

Store norske leksikon says that artefacts indicate that humans have lived in Gjerdrum since ancient times; furthermore the names of places also indicate the same.

[11] On 30 December 2020 a quick clay landslide occurred in the village of Ask[12] within Gjerdum municipality.

[14] Gjerdrum lies on the southwestern part of the Romerike Plain (Romerikssletta); this eastern part of the municipality lies at a low altitude and is covered by significant[15] layers of clay that was deposited, towards the end of the previous ice age.

The quick-clay at Gjerdrum was deposited (in a fjord)[16] around 8,000 or 9,000 years ago, when the sea level was around 200 meters higher.