Gard
Possible meaning: a guard or watchman.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Gard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gard today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gard births was 1947 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gard. 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
- • The typical person named Gard is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gards were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gard. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1947
5 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1959 SSA rank
#4,206
Tracked since 1947
Popularity
Gard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gard from the 1940s through to the 1950s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 10 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gard 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 Gard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gard
The name Gard finds its origins in the Old Norse language, tracing back to the Viking era in Scandinavia around the 8th to 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old Norse word "garðr," meaning "enclosure" or "yard." In ancient Viking settlements, the gard referred to the enclosed courtyard or farmstead where people lived and worked.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gard appears in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval literature written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas chronicle the lives and adventures of Norse settlers in Iceland, and several characters bearing the name Gard are mentioned, often as farmers or landowners.
In the realm of historical figures, one notable bearer of the name Gard was Gard Sveinsson (c. 1160-1230), a powerful chieftain and lawspeaker in medieval Iceland. He played a significant role in the Sturlung Age, a period of internal conflicts and power struggles in the country.
Another historical figure was Gard Magnusson (c. 1290-1350), a Norwegian nobleman and military leader who served as the governor of Trondheim and participated in the Norwegian-Swedish wars of the 14th century.
In religious texts, the name Gard is not commonly found, although some scholars have suggested a possible connection to the Old Norse god Freyr, who was associated with fertility, prosperity, and the protection of crops and livestock – concepts closely tied to the meaning of "gard" as an enclosure or farmstead.
Moving forward in time, one notable bearer of the name was Gard Anker Nissen (1879-1960), a Norwegian businessman and philanthropist who founded the Anker-Nissen shipping company and played a significant role in the growth of the Norwegian merchant marine.
Another prominent figure was Gard Stong (1904-1997), an American mathematician and educator who made contributions to the field of topology and served as the president of the Mathematical Association of America.
While the name Gard is relatively uncommon in modern times, it remains a part of Scandinavian cultural heritage, reflecting the ancient Viking traditions and the importance of agriculture and settlements in the region's history.
People
Gard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gard 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
Gard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gard 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Gard a common name?
We classify Gard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gard most popular?
The single biggest year for Gard was 1947, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gard is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Gard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gard in the SSA data are male. 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 Gard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gard 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 Gard 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Gard?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.