Garin
A masculine name of Armenian origin meaning "warrior" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 1,085 living Americans carry the first name Garin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Garin today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garin births was 2006 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garin. 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 Garin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 315,903 Americans
Peak year
2006
53 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,753
Tracked since 1961
Census
Garin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,087 people with the first name Garin, which placed it at #11,680 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
#11,680
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,087 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garin is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Garin 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 Garin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.2% · 839
- Two or more races6.7% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 66
- Black or African American6.0% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 7
Popularity
Garin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garin from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 373 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Garin 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 Garin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Garins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Garin, while Washington, Colorado, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Garin
The name Garin has its origins in the Armenian language, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Armenian word "kar," which means "stone" or "rock," and the diminutive suffix "-in," denoting smallness or endearment. Thus, the name Garin can be interpreted as "little stone" or "small rock."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Garin can be found in the Armenian epic poem "Daredevils of Sassoun," which dates back to the 8th century. In this epic, Garin is the name of one of the central characters, a brave and valiant warrior from the region of Sassoun in historical Armenia.
The name Garin also appears in several medieval Armenian manuscripts and historical records, indicating its usage among the Armenian nobility and commoners alike during that time period. It is believed that the name gained popularity due to its association with strength, resilience, and steadfastness, qualities embodied by the character Garin in the epic poem.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Garin. One of the earliest recorded examples is Garin of Monglane (c. 1030 – c. 1100), a French knight and crusader who participated in the First Crusade and played a significant role in the capture of Antioch in 1098.
Another prominent figure with the name Garin was Garin le Loherain (c. 1160 – c. 1225), a French trouvère and author of the medieval romance "Garin le Loherain," which recounts the exploits of a fictional knight named Garin. This work is considered one of the earliest examples of chivalric literature in French.
In the 13th century, Garin de Monglane (c. 1210 – c. 1285) was a French nobleman and military leader who fought in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France. He is remembered for his role in the siege and capture of the city of Béziers in 1209.
Moving into the 14th century, Garin d'Apchier (c. 1320 – c. 1390) was a French nobleman and military commander who served under King John II of France during the Hundred Years' War. He is known for his participation in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, where he was captured by the English forces.
In the 16th century, Garin le Breton (c. 1520 – c. 1590) was a French scholar and translator who played a significant role in the Renaissance humanism movement. He is best known for his translations of Greek and Latin philosophical works into French, contributing to the spread of classical knowledge during that period.
People
Garin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garin 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
Garin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,085 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garin 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 315,903 US residents.
Is Garin a common name?
We classify Garin as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,125 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garin most popular?
The single biggest year for Garin was 2006, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garin is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Garin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,087 people with the name Garin, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,680 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 Garin 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 Garin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Garin leans strongly male. 1,035 people counted with this name were male (95.5%), compared with 49 female bearers (4.5%). 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 Garin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garin is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Garin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Garin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (839 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 Garin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Garin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Garin 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 Garin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Garin 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 Garin 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 share the name Garin?
Want to know how many people share the name Garin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.