Gary
An American surname turned given name, from the Germanic ger “spear”; its rise tracks the actor Gary Cooper.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Movie star Gary Cooper, renamed after Gary, Indiana, single-handedly turned a steel town into a midcentury boys' name.
Gary appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American boys in every year from 1933 to 1988. It spent 5 years inside the top 10. Its biggest year was 1952, when 38,754 newborn boys received the name, ranking it No. 10 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1954, at No. 9. All told, 905,438 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Garry (47,849), Garey (1,457), Gari (643), Gauri (594) (total births since 1880)
Other names that share a story: Cooper
Explore Gary interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 54 | No. 611 |
| 1890s | 102 | No. 525 |
| 1900s | 142 | No. 489 |
| 1910s | 562 | No. 605 |
| 1920s | 1,515 | No. 234 |
| 1930s | 43,596 | No. 21 |
| 1940s | 217,772 | No. 12 |
| 1950s | 329,933 | No. 9 |
| 1960s | 166,031 | No. 21 |
| 1970s | 68,261 | No. 35 |
| 1980s | 40,230 | No. 62 |
| 1990s | 19,194 | No. 114 |
| 2000s | 8,879 | No. 275 |
| 2010s | 4,512 | No. 475 |
| 2020s | 1,369 | No. 806 |
Births and rank shown for boys, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.