US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
Gary: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Gary for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Gary was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 5 years, between 1950 and 1954, reaching #9. Births peaked in 1952, when 38,754 baby boys were named Gary, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.
Gary in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Gary (1952).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Boomers | 5 (1950–1954) | #9 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Gary most popular?
By number of babies, in 1952, when 38,754 boys were given the name. By rank, it reached #9 and spent 5 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Gary?
Its peak year, 1952, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 5 top-10 years fall in: Baby Boomers (5).
How many people have been named Gary?
SSA counted 902,152 boys named Gary born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Gary are alive today.