Gabrielle
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength".
Name Census estimates that about 133,940 living Americans carry the first name Gabrielle. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Gabrielle today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gabrielle births was 1998 (6,221 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gabrielle. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gabrielle with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Gabrielle is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 785 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
134K
~ 1 in 2,559 Americans
Peak year
1998
6,221 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#577
Tracked since 1890
Census
Gabrielle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 118,800 people with the first name Gabrielle, which placed it at #476 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#476
National first-name rank
People counted
119K
118,800 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
39.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gabrielle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gabrielle is White at 57.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.8%) and Hispanic (14.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gabrielle described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gabrielle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.1% · 67,811
- Black or African American18.8% · 22,292
- Hispanic or Latino14.0% · 16,574
- Two or more races6.7% · 7,906
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 3,385
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 832
Gender
Gender distribution for Gabrielle
Out of the 139,099 babies given the name Gabrielle since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Gabrielle as a male name
- Ranked #12,875 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (40 births)
Gabrielle as a female name
- Ranked #577 in 2024
- 523 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (6,201 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gabrielle appears almost entirely female. Of the 118,795 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Gabrielle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gabrielle from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 50,049 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gabrielle by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gabrielle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gabrielles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Gabrielle, while Wyoming, Vermont, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,656 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gabrielle
The name Gabrielle finds its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, originating from the biblical name Gabriel, meaning "God is my strength." The name first appeared in the Bible's Old Testament and was borne by the archangel Gabriel, who served as a messenger of God.
In the late 4th century, the name gained popularity in Western Europe due to the veneration of the archangel Gabriel. It was used as a masculine name in various forms, such as Gabriele, Gabriello, and Gabrielus, and was later feminized to Gabrielle or Gabriella.
The earliest recorded use of the feminine form Gabrielle can be traced back to the 12th century in France. It became particularly popular during the Renaissance period, with notable figures like Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573-1599), a mistress of King Henry IV of France.
In literature, the name Gabrielle is featured in works such as Shakespeare's "The Tempest," where it is given to a character described as a "perfect beauty." Additionally, in the 19th century novel "The Marble Faun" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the main characters is named Gabrielle.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Gabrielle. These include Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983), a renowned Canadian author and winner of the prestigious Governor General's Award, and Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883-1971), the influential French fashion designer and founder of the Chanel brand.
Other famous Gabrielles include Gabrielle Reece (born 1970), an American professional volleyball player and model, Gabrielle Suchon (1632-1703), a French feminist and writer, and Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil (1706-1749), a French aristocrat and influential salonnière during the Age of Enlightenment.
The name Gabrielle has endured through the centuries, maintaining its popularity and association with strength, grace, and celestial beauty, reflecting its biblical origins and historical significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Gabrielle
People
Gabrielle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gabrielle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gabrielle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gabrielle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 133,940 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gabrielle going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,559 US residents.
Is Gabrielle a common name?
We classify Gabrielle as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 139,099 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gabrielle most popular?
The single biggest year for Gabrielle was 1998, when 6,221 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gabrielle is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gabrielle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 118,800 people with the name Gabrielle, or 39.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #476 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gabrielle in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gabrielle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gabrielle appears almost entirely female. Of the 118,795 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gabrielle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gabrielle is White at 57.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.8%) and Hispanic (14.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gabrielle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gabrielle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.1% (67,811 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gabrielle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gabrielle a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Gabrielle in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gabrielle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gabrielle in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gabrielle can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Gabrielle?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Gabrielle at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.