Gale
A masculine name from Old English meaning "loud" or "boisterous".
Name Census estimates that about 17,772 living Americans carry the first name Gale. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Gale today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gale births was 1957 (1,364 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gale. 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.
Key insights
- • Gale sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • The typical person named Gale is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gales were born before 1966.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Gale have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 19,286 Americans
Peak year
1957
1,364 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,562
Tracked since 1883
Gender
Gender distribution for Gale
Gale is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 32,330 total registrations, 12,424 (38.4%) were male and 19,906 (61.6%) were female.
Gale as a male name
- Ranked #6,562 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1947 (377 births)
Gale as a female name
- Ranked #15,972 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1957 (1,210 births)
Popularity
Gale: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gale from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 11,774 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gale 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 Gale during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gales live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Gale, while Vermont, New Mexico, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 535 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gale
The given name Gale has its origins in Old English, emerging around the 5th century. It is derived from the Old English word "galan," which means "to sing or chant." This connection suggests that the name may have been initially associated with poets, singers, or storytellers in Anglo-Saxon communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gale can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive record of landowners and tenants commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England. In this historical document, the name appears as "Galli," likely a variant spelling of the same name.
In the Middle Ages, the name Gale gained popularity among Christians, perhaps due to its similarity to the Latin word "gaudium," meaning "joy" or "gladness." This association with joy and celebration may have contributed to its widespread use during this period.
One notable historical figure with the name Gale was Gale of King, an English philosopher and theologian who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He was known for his works on logic and metaphysics, which influenced subsequent generations of scholars.
During the Renaissance, the name Gale continued to be used, albeit less frequently. One notable bearer of the name from this era was Gale of Viterbo, an Italian humanist and scholar who lived in the 15th century and was renowned for his expertise in classical literature and philosophy.
In the 17th century, the English mathematician and astronomer Gale Ingram made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. He was born in 1627 and is remembered for his precise calculations of planetary orbits and his work on improving astronomical instruments.
Another prominent figure with the name Gale was Gale Sayers, an American professional football player who played for the Chicago Bears in the 1960s. Regarded as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
In more recent times, the name Gale has been used less frequently, but it still maintains a connection to its historical roots and associations with music, joy, and intellectual pursuits.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Gale
People
Gale + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gale 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
Gale: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gale?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,772 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gale 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 19,286 US residents.
Is Gale a common name?
We classify Gale as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32,330 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gale most popular?
The single biggest year for Gale was 1957, when 1,364 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gale is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gale a female name?
Yes, 61.6% of people registered as Gale 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.
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.